AI blamed for 112,713 job cuts, but the labor data isn’t buying it

Engagement belongs on that list. “If they come about because of AI, is the company suffering on engagement? Are people feeling less connected to the company or to their jobs?” Challenger said, adding that the question belongs at the table with other executives. Email and Slack data can show it, he said, but direct feedback is more reliable. “I think the gold standard is asking employees directly with quick, short surveys to get their direct feedback,” he said. AI can help there too, designing sharper questions and timing them for when employees are most likely to respond. “Using technology as a way to be able to listen to your employees in a more effective way is actually a great way to use artificial intelligence today,” Challenger said.

Put together, Challenger’s and Magrini’s advice points to early proof that can be measured now, such as engagement, error rates and response times, rather than waiting on revenue gains that may take longer to surface. Activity metrics alone invite gaming, as when Amazon workers started gaming an internal AI leaderboard.

Watch for shadow AI and the hours it hands back

Unsanctioned tools, often called shadow AI, add a security risk. Many companies bar staff from feeding company data into outside models and limit them to approved tools such as Copilot, Challenger said, with each employer still writing its own rules. “It depends who’s driving those policies within a company. Sometimes they’re coming from the legal team. Sometimes they’re coming from IT teams. Sometimes they’re coming from HR. Hopefully, all three are involved,” he said.

The harder call comes once the rollout works. Challenger’s firm estimated in March 2026 that March Madness could cost employers more than $12 billion in lost productivity, while urging them to embrace the camaraderie the tournament builds. AI poses the reverse question: what happens to the hours it gives back. Employers could simply pile on more work, Challenger said, or reserve an hour a day for building skills the business expects to need, or for creative concepting that brings new ideas forward. That choice bears directly on the AI training gap that dulls a company’s transformation edge.

“I think there’s all sorts of ways companies can start to reallocate that time, but if they don’t intentionally plan it, it’ll just get sucked up,” Challenger said.