Report
From intent to action: the leaders’ guide to building AI-powered workplaces
AI is no longer a future ambition; it is becoming central to corporate strategy and a benchmark for competitiveness. This research explores how organisations are turning intent into action on AI-powered workplaces across strategic readiness and investment, essential skills and talent development, and culture and ethical governance.
Executive summary
The imperative to adopt and deploy AI has never been stronger. What matters now is how organisations can shape the staff, culture and systems to use it well. Workforce readiness is emerging as one of the critical factors that determine success as organisations move from AI pilots to enterprise-wide deployment in an efficient, ethical and sustainable manner.
Based on a survey of 639 senior decision‐makers across five global hubs—London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo—this report examines how organisations are preparing for an AI- powered future across three strategic focus areas of AI maturity and workforce readiness: strategic investment, skills and talent development, and culture and governance. These findings are enriched by insights from interviews with leaders in AI capability-building.
Key findings:
The ambition–investment paradox. Most leaders recognise AI’s strategic value—88% see it as a source of competitive advantage—yet few have invested in that ambition. Only 38% have a dedicated budget for AI skill development. Without investment, many organisations are struggling to embed AI into their core business processes; only around 4% have achieved repeatable business value at scale.
Training without transformation. Almost every organisation claims to be developing AI skills—99% of executives report having an approach to develop AI-relevant skills. However, most respondents rely on informal or ad hoc approaches. Mentorship (54%) and self‐directed online courses (52%) are the most popular, while structured internal training (16%) and external partnerships (21%) are uncommon. Many organisations are ticking the box rather than building real capability at scale for an AI-powered future.
Without clear standards or oversight, employees are left to manage AI risk alone. The result is a workforce aware of the dangers but ill-equipped to handle them. AI risk could become a social performance flashpoint for businesses in the coming years.
The governance imperative. Many organisations claim to take responsible AI seriously, yet few back it up with structure. Only 8% have implemented a comprehensive governance framework. Cybersecurity is rated essential by 96% of executives, but just 20% say their teams are proficient—a 76-point gap. Similar chasms exist in data privacy (68 points) and bias detection (71 points). Without clear standards or oversight, employees are left to manage AI risk alone. The result is a workforce aware of the dangers but ill-equipped to handle them. AI risk could become a social performance flashpoint for businesses in the coming years.
The middle-management bottleneck. Senior leaders may champion AI talent strategies— nearly 60% of executives say their leadership team is aligned on AI talent strategy—but middle managers are not currently leading the charge. Nearly half (48%) say managers have only minimal responsibility for AI skill development of their teams and 8% say they have none. Without more momentum and agency, AI goals will be hard to reach. One in three executives cites resistance to change from employees and middle managers as a key barrier to aligning talent strategy with AI goals.
The human-skills gap. As AI automates routine work, human judgment becomes the competitive edge. Executives rank critical thinking (95%) and creativity (95%) as important as technical skills, yet only a third say their staff excel in these areas. The shortage of such skills limits innovation and could inhibit human oversight of AI-driven decisions.
The digital divide. Small firms risk being left behind in the AI transition. Their leaders are four times more likely than those in global firms to cite budget constraints as a barrier to training (18% vs 4%), and nearly two-thirds (64%) lack the funds to hire specialists. Only 2% report having a robust governance framework. Without targeted government support, disparities in AI capability between large and small firms will deepen.
AI is not simply a technical upgrade—it reshapes how work gets done. As adoption accelerates, organisations must match technological ambition with human investment. Closing the skills gap will require more than one-off training initiatives. It demands a systemic shift in how firms think about capability, performance and culture.
The organisations that lead the next wave of AI maturity will be those that combine the best tools with the workforce ready to use them safely. Marrying workforce skills with the potential of AI can promote organisational sustainability by strengthening inclusion, improving governance and enriching working life. In contrast, a mismatch between AI’s capabilities and workforce readiness can lead to unequal workplace outcomes and, in turn, broader societal risk.
Introduction: building AI-ready workplaces
As organisations move from experimentation with AI systems to enterprise-wide deployment, leaders increasingly recognise that technology alone will not determine success. Forwardthinking firms are building workforces that are able to adapt, learn and evolve alongside technology.
Over the next five years, the global labour market is expected to see 170m new jobs created and 92m displaced, with a net gain of 78m roles. Between 2018 and 2023 demand for AI-related roles grew by 21% as a share of total job postings. At the same time, references to university degree requirements for these roles declined by 15%, signalling a shift toward valuing practical, demonstrable skills over traditional credentials. Positively, this transition could improve workforce inclusivity. AI could, for instance, reduce the barriers to entry in technical roles like coding, allowing more diverse participation. It can also democratise access to technology skills in the wider workforce. To keep pace, many organisations are incentivised to invest more in their existing teams. “Organisations need to look inward,” says Kian Katanforoosh, co-founder and chief executive officer of Workera, a skills intelligence platform. “We can’t afford to wait five or ten years for the talent shortage to ease or for the talent pool to grow enough that people come to us. Focus inward, and maximise the potential of your existing employees.” Michael Priddis, founder and former chief executive officer of Faethm AI, agrees. “It’s not about hiring vast numbers of new people,” he says. “It’s about augmenting and incrementally improving the productivity of the people you already have.”
“It’s not about hiring vast numbers of new people. It’s about augmenting and incrementally improving the productivity of the people you already have.”
Michael Priddis, founder and former chief executive officer, Faethm AI, Sydney
In an AI-powered workplace where people and technology collaborate, talent development becomes not just a commercial imperative but a core sustainability strategy. Research shows that AI adoption can improve environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance across organisations by accelerating digital transformation, driving green innovation and enhancing transparency in corporate reporting. AI tools have the potential to strengthen corporate due diligence on human rights and sustainability; companies are deploying these tools to map supply chains and identify human rights risks. But ensuring employees are trained and sufficiently informed to safely and accurately use these tools is just as critical.
Organisations that successfully integrate AI into their talent strategies can build higherperforming, more diverse workforces. AI recruiting and human resources tools can flag biases and improve performance management and compensation policies, promoting diversity and improving equity in the hiring process.
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