As HR professionals navigate pressure to drive up AI integration, they may need to re-examine tailored strategies due to a growing AI adoption gap between leaders, managers and individual contributors.
New research from Gallup on workplace AI adoption finds that leaders are the most likely segment of the workforce to use AI. In Q4 2025, about 69% of leaders said they rely on AI to any extent, compared to 55% of managers and 40% of employees. Leaders are also the most frequent users: Forty-four percent tap the tech at least a few times a week, compared to 30% and 11% of managers and employees, respectively. Nineteen percent are daily users, compared to 13% and 11% of managers and employees, respectively.
Gallup compared last quarter’s data to the second quarter of 2023, finding huge upswings in adoption across job levels. In particular, use of AI by leaders at least a few times a week soared by about 25 percentage points.
“Leaders report substantially higher and more frequent AI use than other employees, and that separation has grown over time,” researchers write.
What’s driving the divide?
This can be attributed, in part, to the fact that leaders are more likely than managers and individual contributors to work both in-person and remotely, creating more opportunities for AI application. The Q4 data, for instance, found that AI use was much higher among individuals in positions with the capability for remote work.
What’s more, previous Gallup research found that individual contributors are more likely to report that AI application lacks value, suggesting leaders have more visible insights into AI use cases.
“For organizations integrating AI technology, this underscores the importance of grounding decisions about AI adoption in a clear understanding of how AI may be applied to different roles and functions, not just among those closest to decision-making,” researchers say.
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