AI Isn’t Letting Workers Off the Hook Yet. Why Centering People Matters Even As The Tech Matures.

New insights from Endeavor Business Intelligence and elsewhere shows adoption efforts improving but still often leaning heavily on the idea of “more.”
Aug. 21, 2026
4 min read

Key Highlights

  • Over half of U.S. workers report no meaningful change in work expectations from AI, indicating early adoption stages.
  • AI's impact varies, with some employees facing increased learning demands and tighter deadlines, highlighting the need for strategic alignment.
  • Experts advocate for linking AI initiatives to clear goals and employee upskilling to ensure sustainable, human-centered growth.
  • Middle managers play a crucial role in translating AI potential into strategic advantages through workflow redesign and team coaching.
  • Proper AI use can help reduce burnout by enabling employees to focus on higher-value, human-centric activities like judgment and mentoring.
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The broad and rapid emergence of artificial intelligence tools hasn’t yet made life easier for most U.S. workers, new research from Endeavor Business Intelligence and other sources shows. Key to making real progress on that front, experts say, is to properly connect strategic goals to AI use cases and let employees come to view AI as a path to upskilling rather than one more productivity tool.

As part of a recent survey of 400 professionals in more than 10 industries, Endeavor Business Intelligence (the research division of ExecutiveEDGE’s parent company, EndeavorB2B) found that more than half of people haven’t seen any meaningful change in their work expectations because of AI since last year. But of the 42% who did say things have changed on that front, 38% said expectations of them are now "somewhat" or "much" higher.

Those expectations aren’t uniform, though. Changes stemming from AI range from needing to learn new tools and technologies (33%) to checking AI-generated work (26%) and moving things with shorter timelines (18%) or in greater volume (15%).

In many ways, this range of responses from an audience that covered many parts of the economy as well as a wide range of roles and company sizes shows that we’re all still very early in the adoption phase of an extremely disruptive technology. Very much worth paying attention to, however, is the need for a maturation in the human aspects of continued adoption alongside greater technical prowess.

The Endeavor Business Intelligence insights at the heart of this story come from a newly published report, “Work Intensity Pulse Survey,” that takes a broader look at how much and how intensely people say they’re working. In addition to views on AI’s adoption, the report also includes professionals’ perspectives about motivation, job security and confidence in building career. You can download it from the EBI blog right here.

“Among those experiencing its effects, the technology appears to be raising the bar rather than lowering it,” EBI researchers wrote in a report analyzing their research. “As AI capabilities continue to mature, employers will need to balance productivity gains with realistic expectations to ensure efficiency doesn’t come at the expense of employee well-being.”

EBI’s observations are part of a more expansive look at how intense people think their jobs are these days. (More on that in the sidebar here.) But its analysts’ observations from the field are backed up by other recent research and observations from experts working to sculpt and guide the change AI is generating. Time and again, they say, tying AI to real strategic goals while empowering employees — not tacking on more tasks, even if they are AI-focused — is crucial to long-term success.

From “The C-Suite AI Impact Report” compiled by the University of Phoenix and workplace strategist Jeanne Meister: “The focus on AI is no longer on individual employee adoption of AI, but instead on the readiness of teams to integrate AI into workflows and achieve measurable business results. AI adoption is accelerating, but unlocking its full potential requires C-Suite leaders to grapple with the readiness of the workforce to partner with AI as a collaborator, amplifying their human potential, rather than just enhancing their productivity.”

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Aug. 18, 2026
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Striking a similar tone earlier this month for EndeavorB2B title IndustryWeek, Jay Titus of the University of Phoenix focused on the work of middle managers, many of whom have been tasked with translating the massive potential of AI to their teams.

“When middle managers have the skills to understand the technology, to redesign workflows to take advantage of it, and to coach their teams toward higher-quality outputs, AI stops being a question mark and becomes a powerful strategic asset,” Titus wrote.

Lauren Neal, the founder and chief program creator at Valued At Work, recently wrote for Chemical Processing, another EndeavorB2B title, about how companies often burn out their best people. AI can help improve that dynamic, she said, but added a major caveat.

“Used properly, this is not about squeezing more output from already stretched teams,” Neal wrote. “It is about restoring human capacity for higher-value activities such as engineering judgment, proactive risk management, mentoring and operational decision-making.”

Restoring human capacity for higher-value activities. In a world where many of us are increasingly tethered to work non-stop — 56% of the 400 people EBI talked to for its recent report said they work outside business hours frequently or more often — that sounds like a great goal to work into your teams’ 2027 plans.

About the Author

Geert De Lombaerde

Geert De Lombaerde

Contributor

A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde joined EndeavorB2B in September 2021 to cover public companies, markets, and economic trends primarily for IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World, and Healthcare Innovation. His work focuses on strategy, leadership, capital spending, and mergers and acquisitions, and he also works with Endeavor Business Intelligence on surveys and data projects.

Geert has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s. With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance, and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic by an average of more than 15% annually before joining Endeavor.

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