Most employees still use AI at beginner level

“They get stuck one step earlier, on a blank question, which is ‘What do I even point this at?'” he said. “Nothing in the actual job comes pre-labeled, give this to AI.”

Kabashi called the pattern a “use case desert.” He said the larger issue, in his view, is a lack of leadership direction rather than a deficit in employee skill.

“I don’t want to point fingers,” he said. “Everyone better get busy pretty soon, because the companies that figure this out — who can rise above 13% meaningful AI use — are going to be strong competitive performers.”

Independent surveys show similar pattern

IBM’s 2026 Global CEO Study polled thousands of CEOs across industries and geographies. It found that 85% of employees have the capability to use AI, while only 25% use it regularly – a 61-point gap. The study attributed the gap to unclear use cases, training disconnected from daily workflows, tools that don’t fit existing systems, and a lack of visible AI use by leadership.

A separate Gallup survey of 23,717 employees, conducted in February, found that only about one in 10 employees at AI-adopting organisations strongly agree that AI has transformed how work gets done at their company. The benefits of workplace AI use appear concentrated at the level of individual tasks rather than broader workplace systems.