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AI adoption gaps are placing pressure on leaders as organizations struggle to translate investment into results according second annual AI survey from Writer.
The study, conducted in partnership with independent research firm Workplace Intelligence, surveyed 2,400 global employees and C-suite leaders using AI at work and outlines a number of alarming issues with AI adoption in companies including internal conflict and even employee sabotage highlighted.
The report examines the obstacles companies continue to face as they implement generative and agentic AI, and says that 79% of executives acknowledge struggling with issues like lagging ROI, strategy gaps, and internal power struggles. The pressure is felt most acutely at the top, with 38% of CEOs reporting a high or crippling amount of stress around AI strategy. And it’s not just their companies on the line — 64% of CEOs fear they could lose their job if they fail to lead their organization through the AI transition.
AI adoption gaps widen talent divide
To get ahead in the AI race, 92% of the C-suite admit they’re actively cultivating a new class of 'AI elite' employees. Most leaders (87%) report that these AI super-users are at least five times more productive than employees who aren’t embracing AI. But the stakes are high for those who lag behind, with 77% of executives warning that employees who refuse to become AI-proficient won’t be considered for promotions or leadership roles, and 60% say they plan to lay off employees who can’t or won’t use AI.
With high levels of investment lagging ROI also remains a core issue. Nearly all executives (97%) say AI has been beneficial, and 75% believe AI agents will be part of their company’s C-suite within the next five years. Still, few leaders say they’ve seen significant ROI from generative AI (29%) or AI agents (23%), and nearly half (48%) feel that AI adoption at their company has been a massive disappointment.
Strategy gaps are also evident. Some 69% of the C-suite report that their company is laying people off because of AI, but 39% admit they don’t have a formal strategy in place to drive revenue from AI tools. Even where strategies do exist, quality is lacking — 75% of executives say their company’s AI strategy is more for show than for actual internal guidance.
Internal tensions and leadership pressure rise
Internal tensions are intensifying as board level pressure grows, with 54% of the C-suite saying that adopting AI is tearing their company apart, while 56% say it has created power struggles and disruption at their organization — double digit increases from 2025. Some 78% of executives say AI has created tension between IT and other lines of business, with 55% reporting that AI use is a chaotic free-for-all at their company.
Organizational redesign is already underway, with 95% of executives saying roles, titles, and team structures are changing at their company because of AI, and 90% saying the rise of AI super-users will require them to completely rethink how they evaluate and reward performance. Managers’ roles are also under scrutiny: 80% of Gen Z trust AI more than their manager, with tasks like providing performance feedback and career advice, for example.
Employee sabotage is emerging as a problem with 29% of employees — including 44% of Gen Z — admitting to sabotaging their company’s AI strategy by entering company information into public tools, using unapproved tools, or refusing to use AI. Executives have already recognized the danger, with 76% saying employee sabotage poses a serious threat to their company’s future.
AI security concerns
Security and governance risks are also compounding concerns, with 67% of executives saying their company has suffered a data leak or security breach because of an employee using an unapproved AI tool. More than one-third (35%) concede they aren’t very confident they could “pull the plug” on a rogue AI agent if it started causing financial or reputational damage to their company.
“Layoffs are not a viable AI strategy,” said May Habib, CEO & Co-Founder, Writer. “I’m on the front lines with Writer's Fortune 500 customers, and the leaders who are putting in the work to radically redesign operations with human-agent collaboration at the center are the ones compounding their advantage in ways competitors can’t replicate. AI transformation is ultimately about people, and the future belongs to the companies putting agent-building power directly into the hands of people closest to the work.”
The report adds that organizations can address the structural, cultural, and governance gaps slowing progress by tying AI initiatives to measurable business outcomes, empowering employees to innovate without creating IT bottlenecks, and focusing investment on opportunity and growth (not just efficiency and cost-cutting). It also requires documented roadmaps, enterprise-grade governance for AI agents, and change leadership that works both top-down and bottom-up.
“The top AI users are gaining huge amounts of leverage inside organizations. To turn these individual productivity gains into real business ROI, copilots aren’t enough. Companies need enterprise AI platforms that support deeper structural change,” said Mina Alghaband, Chief Customer Officer of Writer. “At Writer, we focus on empowering entire departments to expand their capacity with agents, with full IT supervision and control from day one.”
