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Many executives believe they have already done their part in adopting artificial intelligence. They approve new tools, announce an AI strategy and turn their attention elsewhere. The latest adoption data, however, suggests that employees are not always following suit.
Slingshot’s Digital Work Trends Report found that 86% of C-suite executives believe AI use should be required in company operations. Yet fewer than half of middle managers — 49% — are reinforcing that expectation with their teams. The disconnect between leadership’s stated priorities and employees’ day-to-day behavior is not primarily a technology issue. It is a leadership challenge.
I have spent more than 35 years leading Infragistics, and one lesson has held true through every major shift in technology: The success of a new initiative depends less on the tool itself than on how leaders introduce and support it. Organizations that achieve lasting change are those where leaders build an environment that gives employees the confidence to adopt new technology.
AI is no exception. Leaders who want their teams to use it effectively must do more than deploy a platform or issue a mandate. They need to create a safe environment where employees can learn, experiment and develop new habits. Here are three ways leaders can help make that happen.
1. Coaching creates the confidence to experiment
Meaningful AI adoption requires employees to experiment. But they are unlikely to take those risks if they fear criticism or believe every attempt must produce immediate results.
That is why coaching is often more effective than a command-and-control approach. Instead of simply instructing employees to use AI, coaching-oriented leaders work alongside their teams. They ask what is working, where the tools fall short and which parts of the process are creating friction.
Anyone who has used an AI tool knows that producing genuinely useful results takes practice. The first prompt seldom delivers exactly what is needed. With experience, users learn to ask more precise questions, provide better context and test different approaches until the output fits their workflow.
That learning process is personal, iterative and different for every role. A marketer using AI to monitor key performance indicators will follow a very different path from a salesperson applying it to outreach. Employees need the freedom to work through that process. Leaders must make it clear that learning how to use AI is part of the job — not evidence that someone is unprepared.
2. Model the behavior you want to see
One of the most effective ways leaders can accelerate AI adoption is by using the technology themselves.
Employees pay much closer attention to what leaders do than to what they say. When executives openly use AI in meetings, planning, decision-making or content creation — while acknowledging both its strengths and limitations — they make experimentation feel normal. That transparency also gives employees permission to learn without feeling they must become AI experts immediately.
A simple practice is to begin team check-ins by discussing how AI was used during the previous week: what was tested, what worked and what fell short. Leaders can then invite employees to share their own experiences. These conversations help teams exchange ideas, identify effective AI use cases, encourage collaboration and learn from one another rather than experimenting in isolation.
3. Position AI as growth, not compliance
How leaders talk about AI matters just as much as how they implement it. When AI is framed as another mandatory technology rollout, employees often see it as another box to check or, worse, as a threat to their jobs.
Slingshot’s Digital Work Trends report found that nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z employees (19%) and 17% of millennials worry AI could eventually replace them. A company mandate does nothing to address that fear. But when leaders position AI as a way to remove repetitive work, improve decision-making and give employees more time for higher-value thinking, that conversation starts to look very different.
Employees don’t want to hear that AI will replace what makes them valuable. They want to understand how it helps them become even better at the work they already do well. That means being clear about where AI adds value and where human judgment remains essential. AI can analyze data, summarize information and automate repetitive processes, but people still provide strategy, creativity, relationship-building and accountability. When those roles are clearly defined, AI becomes less intimidating and much more useful.
Ultimately, the organizations making the most progress with AI are the ones whose leaders make it safe to learn, model the behaviors they expect from others and consistently reinforce that AI is an investment in their people, not a replacement for them.
Most executives believe they’ve done their part on artificial intelligence. They’ve approved the tools, announced the initiative and moved on. But the adoption numbers tell a different story.
According to Slingshot‘s Digital Work Trends Report, 86% of C-suite executives believe AI usage is required in their company operations. Yet fewer than half (49%) of middle managers are reinforcing that expectation with their teams. This gap between what leaders announce and what employees actually do isn’t a technology problem. It’s a leadership one.
I’ve spent more than 35 years leading Infragistics, and one lesson which has remained true through every major technology shift is that the success of any new initiative depends less on the technology itself and more on how leaders introduce it. The organizations that see lasting change are the ones whose leaders create an environment where people can adopt new tools with confidence.
