---
id: "claim-adoption-gap"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["¶3"]
tags: ["statistics", "workforce-trends"]
related: ["concept-psychological-needs-triad", "entity-bcg", "entity-kyndryl", "prereq-change-management"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["Erik Hermann", "Stefano Puntoni", "Carey K. Morewedge"]
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-sig-52-genai-threatening-to-workers"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/03/why-gen-ai-feels-so-threatening-to-workers"
sourceTitle: "Why Gen AI Feels So Threatening to Workers"
---
# A Massive AI Adoption Gap Exists Between Leadership and Workers

There is a severe rift in Gen AI adoption rates across organizational hierarchies.

- Per a 2025 [[entity-bcg-d52|BCG]] survey: **85% of leaders** and **78% of managers** regularly use Gen AI, compared to only **51% of workers**.
- A 2025 [[entity-kyndryl|Kyndryl]] survey found **45% of CEOs** believe most employees are either resistant or openly hostile to AI use in the workplace.

The gap is largely attributed to a lack of change management strategies and formal training — connecting to [[prereq-change-management-d9]] and, mechanistically, to the frustration of the [[concept-psychological-needs-triad]].

**Confidence: HIGH.** Enrichment confirms BCG reports leader/manager usage 'several times a week' while frontline adoption 'plateaued at 51%'; other surveys show 80–87% of executives vs. ~27–57% of employees. The existence of a sizable gap is strongly supported; exact percentages are directionally accurate but not verbatim across sources. The Kyndryl '45% of CEOs' figure is not directly observable in public summaries, though Kyndryl's research does emphasize perceived resistance and skills gaps.


## Related across articles
- [[concept-ai-adoption-gap]]
- [[claim-leader-perception-gap]]