Companies are letting AI gains go to waste, study says

# Companies are letting AI gains go to waste, study says Source: [https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/companies-are-letting-ai-efficiencies-go-to-waste-study-8914154](https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/companies-are-letting-ai-efficiencies-go-to-waste-study-8914154) A recent[study](https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/ai-at-work-why-strategy-matters-more-than-tools)by[Boston Consulting Group](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/boston-consulting-group_ai-is-already-saving-employees-time-the-activity-7467862694528843776-9Yoh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAjjiIIBQc0s0lSNAYOdeFBzTdlbWzczkzw)highlights a significant increase in employee adoption of AI tools, with 74% of non\-managerial white\-collar workers using them regularly\. More than 4 in 10 of those professionals report that artificial intelligence saves them at least a day's worth of time every week\. However, many companies[face challenges](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-03/ai-saves-time-but-most-companies-waste-the-gain-study-shows)converting those efficiency gains into measurable value, and the technology's impact varies across industries\. When it comes to AI, according to the study's authors, "strategy matters more than tools\." --- ## Editors’ Picks --- 1. Most people remember their first few months using AI at work\. The novelty is energising\. Tasks that used to take hours take minutes\. Work feels sharper and more exciting than it did before\. That is the AI honeymoon\. Today we met with 40\+ journalists from across the globe to unveil[Boston Consulting Group \(BCG\)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-group?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)'s fourth annual AI at Work report and shared that 67% of regular AI users enjoy work more since adopting AI\. The challenge? Sustaining that enjoyment\. After a year of regular use, what keeps employees engaged shifts entirely\. Strategic clarity, guidance on what to do with the time AI frees up, and the ability to show unique value become what drives satisfaction most\. Where those things are missing, the honeymoon can fade\. Clarity and strong leadership are what make the difference\. Learn how in the full report 📖:[https://lnkd\.in/eMVK\-Tba](https://lnkd.in/eMVK-Tba?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)Many thanks to my co\-authors[Vinciane Beauchene](https://fr.linkedin.com/in/vinciane-beauchene-74a72131?trk=news_storyline_guest-text),[Jeff Walters](https://sg.linkedin.com/in/jeffhwalters?trk=news_storyline_guest-text),[David Martin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmartin97?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)and[Vanessa Lyon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-lyon-99843a9?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)for their work bringing this to life\.[\#AIatWork](https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ffeed%2Fhashtag%2Faiatwork&trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[\#AI](https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ffeed%2Fhashtag%2Fai&trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[\#FutureOfWork](https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ffeed%2Fhashtag%2Ffutureofwork&trk=news_storyline_guest-text) 2. Worth reading BCG’s latest AI at Work research\. So many points hit home as I work through infusing AI into Vervent but a few points that I think are worth repeating: 1\. AI is already creating real productivity gains\. BCG found that 42% of regular frontline AI users report saving eight hours a week, effectively a full workday\. But the harder question is what organizations do with that time\. 2\. The compounding effect also matters\. More sophisticated usage, especially using AI to reshape workflows or create new business models, appears to drive more value and a better employee experience than simply giving people tools\. 3\. That feels like the shift many companies are now facing: AI cannot just be positioned as a time saver\. The real opportunity is value creation\. But that requires clearer communication from leadership, redesigned ways of working, and meaningful upskilling\. BCG notes that 72% of respondents say skill expectations have changed, while only 36% feel they have received adequate upskilling\. 4\. The encouraging part is that this is not just about efficiency\. More than two\-thirds of regular AI users report greater job satisfaction since using AI\. That reinforces the idea that business value and employee experience can move together when the change is led well\. 5\. The next phase of AI adoption will not be won by tool deployment alone\. It will be won by organizations that can connect strategy, process redesign, leadership clarity, and people development\. AI is already saving employees time\. The bigger question is: where is that time going? Among frontline employees—individual white\-collar employees with no managerial responsibilities—42% who are regular AI users report saving the equivalent of a full workday, but most organizations haven’t figured out how to convert the time into value\. As AI adoption scales, the challenge for leaders is shifting from deploying tools to redesigning work, reallocating capacity, and capturing the value created\. Read BCG's fourth annual AI at Work survey to explore why strategy, not just technology, is the defining factor in AI success:[https://on\.bcg\.com/4e0KP4H](https://on.bcg.com/4e0KP4H?trk=news_storyline_guest_reshare-text) 3. Our fourth annual AI at Work report is out\. Across 11,749 respondents in 14 markets, the findings paint a clear picture: AI has reached the frontline, but most organizations have not yet reorganized around it\. A few of my key takeaways: 1\. Frontline employees are well past experimentation\. 74% are now regular users \(up 23 points since last year\!\), and 42% of those users report saving at least 8 hours a week\. However, 66% receive little or no guidance on how to reinvest that time, so a significant opportunity for value creation is evaporating at the one\-inch line\. 2\. Only 33% of frontline employees say leadership communicates clearly about AI, and just 28% see alignment between what leaders say and what the organization actually does\. Employees need leaders who provide a clear strategy, and the payoff for articulating a clear strategy is real: employees with strong strategic clarity but limited tools outperform those with strong tools but no direction \(80% vs\. 60% reporting measurable impact\)\. Wow\. 3\. 88% of respondents say they need major upskilling, but only 36% feel adequately trained \(unchanged from last year\!\)\. At the same time, 72% say skill expectations for their role have shifted\. Awareness is not translating into capability\. Organizations need to fundamentally rethink learning and development\. 1\-day bootcamps and "hands on keyboard" training sessions are not the answer\. 4\. 67% of regular users enjoy their work more, AND 41% report higher cognitive load\. AI makes work both better and harder at the same time\! Balancing that paradox is now squarely a leadership responsibility\. 5\. Agents have moved from concept to live workflow\. Agent\-integration more than doubled in a year, and 61% of regular users believe agents could perform at least half their job within three years\. However, the operating model has not caught up: half of employees say their organization lacks clear guidance on managing human \+ AI teams\. Governance and accountability, not the technology, will determine whether agents create value at scale\. The common thread is the report's title: getting the tools right is critical, but to capture value, nailing the strategy and people dynamics matters much more\. Read the report:[https://lnkd\.in/g4EAQZ\-q](https://lnkd.in/g4EAQZ-q?trk=news_storyline_guest-text) 4. [Morgane Bideau · People Development](https://es.linkedin.com/in/morganelearningconsultant?trk=news_storyline_guest_feed-reaction-header)commented on this Many organizations are focused on deploying AI tools\. The bigger challenge may be helping people adapt to the changes those tools bring\. In[Boston Consulting Group \(BCG\)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/boston-consulting-group?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)'s fourth annual AI at Work report, based on responses from 11,749 employees across 14 markets, the organizations seeing the greatest impact from AI aren't necessarily the ones with the most advanced technology\. They're the ones where employees understand how AI fits into the company's strategy, how their role is evolving, and what is expected of them\. That matters because work is already changing\. 72% of respondents say AI has changed the skills required in their role, and nearly half now spend more time managing and directing AI than doing the work itself\. As AI becomes part of everyday work, helping people navigate that shift may be just as important as the technology itself\. Read the full report:[https://lnkd\.in/eQnzsRbv](https://lnkd.in/eQnzsRbv?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[\#AIatWork](https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ffeed%2Fhashtag%2Faiatwork&trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[\#AI](https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ffeed%2Fhashtag%2Fai&trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[\#FutureOfWork](https://www.linkedin.com/login?session_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Ffeed%2Fhashtag%2Ffutureofwork&trk=news_storyline_guest-text) [Javier Anta Callersten](https://es.linkedin.com/in/javier-anta-callersten-3717b6?trk=news_storyline_guest_comment-text)Very interesting publication, and the figure that 72% of employees say AI has changed the skills required in their role is particularly striking\. As we've seen with every major technological breakthrough—from the internet to smartphones—society and the workplace evolve alongside it\. The technology itself is rarely the biggest challenge; adapting how we work is\. One lesson from email is that, decades later, many of us still struggle to manage it effectively rather than letting it manage us\. Perhaps this time with AI we need to take a different approach: not just learning how to use the technology, but learning how to work with it intentionally\. From a Future of Work perspective, the real skill may not be AI literacy, but AI stewardship—the ability to direct, prioritize, and collaborate with AI so that it reduces complexity rather than creates more noise\. 5. Employees are not the one slowing down on AI value creation, leaders’ ability to articulate a strategy for AI is\. Our 4th edition of the AI@Work report is out today, and was presented this morning at a press conference with 60%\+ journalists\. The findings are striking\. \- AI adoption is stronger than ever with 74% of front line employees using AI regularly\. \- Individual productivity is here with 42% of employees saving at least 1 day of work per week but they lack guidance and training on how to reinvest that time\. \- The challenge ahead is therefore more organizational and managerial: 57% of companies are reshaping how work gets done with AI going beyond tool deployment and AI training\. As a result they outperform both on business impact and employee joy \- Strategic clarity is critical to sustain this positive momentum overtime with a \+25pp impact The takeaway is clear: leaders cannot hide behind the “resistance to change” argument\. Employees are not asking for better tools, they want strategic clarity\. This requires real work at the highest levels of the organization Read the report:[https://lnkd\.in/e9q\-Xm4e](https://lnkd.in/e9q-Xm4e?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[Sylvain Duranton](https://fr.linkedin.com/in/sylvain-duranton?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[David Martin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmartin97?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[Vanessa Lyon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-lyon-99843a9?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[Jeff Walters](https://sg.linkedin.com/in/jeffhwalters?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[Marwane Abbad\-Andaloussi](https://fr.linkedin.com/in/marwane-abbad-andaloussi-0b44238a?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[Remy MAZLOUM](https://fr.linkedin.com/in/remy-mazloum?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)[Laurent Acharian](https://fr.linkedin.com/in/laurentacharian?trk=news_storyline_guest-text)