How Might You Use Non-Monetary Incentives to Spur AI Adoption?

Organizations are shelling out big bucks to establish artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in their business — hundreds of billions of dollars in 2025 alone.

But most of these entities (95%, according to MIT research) aren’t yet seeing it pay off, and much of that comes down to their people. Having the latest technology in place means little without an aligned strategy, pathways for all employees to experiment with AI, and incentives that encourage them to do so.

“People are realizing that the human capital side is a far bigger challenge than the tech side,” said Scott A. Snyder, a senior fellow in the Management Department at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and the author of the book Your AI Life. “A lot of people focused on getting the tools and investing in the technology, but there wasn’t an equally strong emphasis and investment on the people side. Just like any other transformation, you’re going to need a massive amount of behavior change and new skills.”

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What’s Impeding AI Adoption?

On the employee side, several factors may be standing in the way of widespread, meaningful AI utilization at your organization. This may include:

• Concerns about the future impact of AI use in the workplace (52%) and fears that AI will threaten their jobs in the coming years (64%).
• A lack of comfort with AI being used in hiring or promotion decisions (60%).
• Inconsistent employer-facilitated access to technology (27% use external AI tools; 23% personally pay for AI tools they use at work).

“There continues to be a struggle with trust, clarity and confidence with AI injected into workflows,” said Alicia Scott-Wears, a content director at WorldatWork. “When employees don’t understand how AI connects to business outcomes, or when it feels threatening or opaque, then adoption stalls. And without adoption, there’s no return on investment.”

In the rush to ride the AI wave, organizations often fail to develop and communicate a clear objective and strategy for how the technology should fit into their business model. Without that framework, employees likely will flounder.

“You’re seeing a lot of fragmented AI use across organizations,” said Chad Atwell, the head of customer success and advisory services at CandorIQ, an AI agent-powered workforce planning platform. “There’s the ideal top-down approach — thoughtful, aligned and clearly defined — but at the same time, there’s a grassroots, bottom-up push from the business to move faster. Most organizations are caught between those two forces right now and are still figuring out how to reconcile the two.”

Another glaring gap: The lack of intentional total rewards programs designed to incentivize not just AI use, but the right AI use for a particular moment, role and organization.

The Power of Non-Monetary Incentives

While financial rewards can certainly serve as a motivator, they’re only one piece of the equation — and organizations have a wealth of non-monetary incentives they can tap into.

“Non-monetary incentives may be some of the better approaches for increasing utilization,” Scott-Wears said. “It taps into purpose, recognition, belonging, development and growth. These paths help to convey respect. When employees feel seen, valued and supported in learning new ways of working, that may give AI an opening to go from ‘extra work’ to ‘better work.’”

The experts interviewed for this article recommended that you consider tapping into what motivates workers through:

• Recognition programs;
• Career development, learning pathways and micro-credentials;
• Stretch assignments and mentorship opportunities;
• Gamification such as innovation challenges; and,
• Work flexibility or additional time off.

“Reinforce that AI is about augmentation, not replacement,” Scott-Wears said. “Whatever methods you decide on, ensure there is space and psychological safety to allow for curiosity, trial and error.”

Rewarding the Right Behaviors

Getting employees on board with AI tech in a way that delivers tangible benefits likely requires rewarding not just the use of AI, but specific AI behaviors that bolster a role and move an organization forward.

“Research consistently shows that employees see formal AI training and skill development as the most effective drivers of adoption, so connecting related skills to promotions, internal certifications or access to specialized learning opportunities shows that mastering AI has tangible professional value,” said Mark Quinn, the head of AI operations at Pearl, which creates AI platforms and tools for professionals. “These incentives encourage employees to engage with the technology thoughtfully and focus on results.”

Quinn noted that Pearl has seen the most success in incentivizing AI adoption and behaviors by both publicly celebrating employees’ related achievements and linking these workers to mentoring opportunities. The company offers several initiatives to drive adoption:

• Its “How I AI” series seeks to make building and using AI tools approachable through practical, relatable use cases — drawing on low-stakes examples, even something as simple as cooking with AI.
• The “AI Champions” program provides space for group learning and experimentation, encouraging shared growth and applying results to company projects.

“Companies should clearly define the behaviors they want to encourage, including where human judgment is expected to remain part of the process, and make sure incentives are accessible across roles and skill levels,” Quinn said. “Transparent communication and fair criteria are essential so that everyone understands how to participate, whether they work in IT, marketing or operations.”

Incentivizing effective AI adoption is a team effort — one that involves HR, finance, IT, legal, business leaders, managers and the employees themselves. And, it typically requires humility to work.

“The HR teams that are most effective understand they’re not there to run the conversation — they’re there to guide it,” CandorIQ’s Atwell said. “That starts with listening: What’s working, what isn’t and where there’s already traction. Without that, you risk wasting time chasing ideas and hoping something sticks. A lot of the current tension comes from skipping that step.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Career Growth
• Employee Benefits
• Employee Experience
• Employee Recognition
• Total Rewards