Employees want to know that leaders approve of AI tools

Organizations' productivity and efficiency strategies rely on employees' willingness to work with new tech tools, but for that to happen, employees need to know that leadership is on board. 

Despite its growing presence and demand in the workplace, 40% of HR and benefit leaders are still avoiding generative AI, according to a recent report from AI education platform FlexOS. Thirty-five percent of leaders have even identified adapting to AI and automation as their biggest challenge — and it could be negatively impacting their companies' current AI adoption strategy entirely. 

"If leadership is hesitant, employees pick up on it," says Kian Katanforoosh, adjunct professor of deep learning at Stanford and CEO of skill assessment and upskilling platform Workera. "That leads to underutilization of AI tools, especially the ones meant to help people learn new skills, make better decisions, or become more productive." 

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This skepticism is driven by three main factors, according to Katanforoosh. First, leaders are concerned about fairness, bias and data privacy — AI in the HR space touches areas like hiring, promotion, performance and learning, keeping the stakes high. Leaders need to know that their tech is explainable, auditable and fair. 

Second, many leaders did not train to have technical roles, which has led to a significant knowledge gap around how AI works and the need to partner more closely with chief information officers, chief technology officers or chief data officers. 

Finally, HR leaders have been pitched "magic bullet" AI solutions for years and not all of them have delivered, Katanforoosh says. But while their initial distrust of new advancements is understandable, it's not sustainable anymore.

"We're entering an era where AI fluency is not optional — it's a competitive advantage," Katanforoosh says. "Organizations that don't embrace this will fall behind, both in business outcomes and talent retention. People want to work for companies that help them grow, not ones that hold them back out of fear." 

Katanforoosh shared a few  strategies on how HR and benefit leaders can shift their perspective on AI, and why it's critical for workforces to get more comfortable with new tech. 

Push for transparency

"HR leaders need to understand exactly how an AI system works, what data it uses, how decisions are made, and what controls are in place to prevent bias or errors. They should demand explainability from providers. 

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Focus on measurement — but measure the right things, [like]verified skills data that aligns to business priorities. If you do not have a clear picture of your workforce's capabilities today, you will not know if your investments in AI are moving the needle tomorrow." 

Break the cycle with employees

"Learning starts with self-awareness. Most people are afraid to engage with AI tools because they think they are already too far behind. Others are overconfident, assuming they are ahead of the curve because they have tried ChatGPT a few times, when in reality they are far behind the top AI users in leading tech companies.

It is a leader's role to break that cycle by giving employees a precise, fair, and empowering way to clarify their strengths and gaps. This is how you build engagement. When people understand exactly where they are and what the next step is, they are far more likely to lean in. That is how you make AI adoption part of the daily workflow, not through mandates, but by helping people see a path forward."

Embrace transformation and education

"The first wave of transformation is usually about buying [AI] tools and infrastructure. But the second wave, and the hardest part, is realizing that for these tools to deliver value, you need to educate and mobilize your workforce. That is where most companies get stuck.

This is why HR plays the most critical role in the coming years. Whether it is finding the right people, developing them faster, or helping employees navigate new ways of working, AI is becoming core to how companies build the workforce of the future. If HR waits on the sidelines, there will be a growing gap between business needs and talent readiness. But if they lead the AI conversation, they can future-proof both their people and their organizations."