---
id: "claim-trust-predicts-hiding"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ What Our Research Shows"]
tags: ["trust", "data-finding"]
related: ["concept-ai-knowledge-hiding", "claim-tools-amplify-trust"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["Eric Anicich", "Jeslyn Brouwers"]
sources: ["execution"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-execution"
originDay: 8
articleStem: "hbr-cl-76-employees-not-transparent-ai-usage"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/why-employees-arent-transparent-about-their-ai-usage"
sourceTitle: "Why Employees Aren’t Transparent About Their AI Usage"
---
# Organizational Trust Is the Strongest Predictor of AI Knowledge Hiding

**Claim (confidence: high, testable):** Organizational trust is the strongest predictor of whether an employee will hide their AI workflows.

**Evidence:** In the authors' survey of **604 U.S.-based employees**, employees in the *lowest* quartile of trust were **nearly four times** as likely to withhold AI knowledge as those in the *highest* quartile — **47% versus 14%**. The relationship held even when controlling for job insecurity, internal competition, age, gender, industry, and the presence of official AI policies.

This is the empirical spine of the vault's thesis and directly underwrites [[concept-ai-knowledge-hiding]]. Its most important corollary is [[claim-tools-amplify-trust]] — because trust is the driver, tools only work through it. It also explains why governance misses the target ([[claim-governance-targets-wrong-problem]]).

**Enrichment:** Directionally corroborated by recent empirical work in which AI trust *moderates* the pathway from employee–AI collaboration to knowledge hiding (weaker under high trust, stronger under low). Caveat from counter-perspective: trust may be over-weighted — AI awareness, locus of control, job insecurity, and psychological availability are additional predictors, so trust is a leading but not exclusive cause.


## Related across articles
- [[concept-human-centricity]]
- [[quote-trust-speed-limit]]
- [[framework-moodys-guiding-principles]]