While companies are focused on upskilling workers for current roles that include artificial intelligence, they may not be preparing workers for the way AI could completely transform how work is done, according to research published Tuesday by The Conference Board.
Additionally, formal AI training as it stands is struggling to keep up with how employees are actually using AI tools, survey results indicate.
While 55% of the nearly 1,300 workers surveyed said they regularly use AI, only 1 in 3 said they’ve participated in employer-provided AI training in the past six months — and this training is often on what Conference Board calls foundational AI skills, such as AI literacy and basic prompting.
Advanced skills, such as managing AI agents, do not tend to be the focus of training despite the fact that other studies have shown that those who can direct AI agents perform better than those who simply prompt results from the tools.
Part of the problem, The Conference Board posits, is that workers feel they do not have the sufficient time or resources to build their AI skills. Notably, leaders interviewed by the firm also said that proper AI training requires “dedicated time, hands-on experience, and managerial support.” Organizations that wait too long to develop AI capabilities before widespread disruption hits “may struggle to adapt,” per the report.
Employers, then, may need to focus their efforts on high-impact training — and thus, perhaps focus on managers. Per a recent Indeed and YouGov report, managers said that they feel underequipped to lead an AI-fluent workforce. But managers are also one of the lynchpins for employee engagement, particularly around AI, recent Gallup research indicated.
“Many organizations have made progress introducing employees to AI, but AI literacy alone will not create business value,” Matt Rosenbaum, principal researcher of human capital at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “The organizations that benefit most from AI will be those that help employees apply AI effectively in their work, continuously develop new capabilities, and adapt as technology and business needs evolve.”
