Leadership, Training Should Be at the Center of AI Transformation

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be top of mind for many organizations, but there are widening gaps employers should address to reap the technology’s maximum value, according to Dayforce’s 16th Annual Pulse of Talent report.

The global human capital management company surveyed nearly 7,000 workers, managers and executives across six countries and found:

• A lack of training. 84% of employees report they haven’t received a single AI learning opportunity in the past year, despite 63% saying they want to develop AI skills.
• A lack of transition support. While 82% of executives say companies should reskill workers impacted by AI, only 17% of organizations currently do.
• A lack of trust. More than half of employees worry about AI’s ethical challenges, yet only a quarter of companies have a person or team responsible for ethical AI use.

“What we’re seeing is that promise doesn’t equal profit,” said Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, Dayforce’s executive vice president and chief people officer. “AI holds tremendous potential, but organizations are running into those three big barriers (training, transition and trust).”

Adoption Gaps

Per the Dayforce report, executives are sprinting ahead, with 87% of them already using AI at work compared to just 27% of employees.

“Leaders are under immense pressure to move fast and stay competitive, but that urgency often outpaces the organization’s ability to prepare its people,” Cappellanti-Wolf said. “Bridging that gap requires intentional investment in reskilling at scale.”

But organizations can’t focus on training alone. To reap return on investment (ROI) from AI, its adoption must be reframed as a holistic change journey, said Bryan Hancock, a partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

“The inclination to begin with leadership and then scale across the organization isn’t necessarily wrong,” he said. “One of the four building blocks of change management is role modeling — employees will take cues from how their leaders talk about and use AI in their work. Leadership should be at the center of this transformation.”

Hancock also noted closing organizational gaps in AI training and skills will require reinforcement through formal mechanisms, including incentivizing new behaviors and reshaping the culture to create psychological safety, reward curiosity and encourage iterative learning.

Addressing Trust Issues

More than half of the employees in Dayforce’s report said they are worried about the ethics of using AI at work, yet only a quarter of companies have anyone formally responsible for ethical AI use.

“If employees don’t trust AI, they won’t adopt it,” Cappellanti-Wolf said. “Without adoption, ROI simply doesn’t materialize.”

The trust issues run both ways, playing out in the speed of implementation — or rather, lack thereof, said Joshua Lemon, the senior director of global total rewards at Resideo, a company that manufactures and distributes smart home and software products.

“Many companies publicly embrace AI but privately stall it through excessive caution,” he said.

Additionally, cybersecurity and legal teams, while well-intentioned, often restrict employees’ ability to use AI tools effectively, Lemon said, noting that the fear of data leakage has led to over-centralized review processes and a lack of empowerment for employees who could be innovating responsibly within clear guardrails.

“The reality is that today’s AI tools are intuitive, with an extremely low learning curve. Once organizations endorse their use and provide a safe ‘sandbox’ environment, employees learn quickly,” Lemon said. “The key is trust: Set the boundaries, educate users and then empower them.”

Measurement Challenges

Instead of being intentional and focusing on specific, measurable use cases, Cappellanti-Wolf said many organizations are still chasing AI adoption for its own sake, using it everywhere all at once.

The fundamentals of ROI don’t change — you still need to connect investment to business value, she said, but with AI, success should be tracked not just in productivity gains or cost savings, but in talent outcomes.

According to Cappellanti-Wolf, employers should consider the following questions when measuring ROI:

• How much faster are employees learning new skills?
• Are retention and engagement improving because AI is helping people see internal career opportunities?
• Is AI reducing repetitive work and freeing people for more meaningful tasks?

Traditional ROI models also struggle to measure the true impact of AI because there’s no clear “before AI” baseline, added Lemon.

“AI use is happening organically, both through company-approved tools and ‘shadow’ usage by employees who use ChatGPT and similar platforms to write emails, summarize data or brainstorm ideas,” he said.

Instead of broad, top-down measures, Lemon said organizations should focus on the micro level: specific workflows, projects or solutions.

“Focus on assessing AI’s value at the functional level — such as marketing, HR, finance or operations — where the improvements are tangible,” he explained. “Compare cost, time and output quality before and after AI integration. Then, roll up those localized results for an enterprise-wide view.”

This is where total rewards professionals can play a critical role because AI adoption directly affects how people feel valued and supported, Cappellanti-Wolf said. She suggested employers focus on three imperatives:

• Training. Make AI learning accessible at every level, embedding it into everyday work so people can build confidence.
• Transition. Use AI-driven tools to support internal mobility, helping employees move into new roles as jobs evolve.
• Transparency. Build trust by clearly communicating how AI is being used in performance, pay and career decisions.

“When people understand the ‘why’ behind AI, skepticism gives way to confidence — and confidence fuels adoption,” Cappellanti-Wolf said. “When you connect technology to human purpose — when AI helps people do the work they’re meant to do — that’s when AI moves from buzz to true business value.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

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