Welcome to the Bring Your Own AI to Work (BYOAI) age. Employees are increasingly turning to AI to alleviate the pressure and intensity of their work. Rather than waiting for their companies to adopt AI, workers are taking the initiative to integrate it into their daily tasks without seeking permission. This trend is similar to the consumerization of IT years ago with services like Slack and Google Apps, where employees led the charge in embracing new technologies that made their jobs easier.
According to the fourth annual Work Trend Index by Microsoft and LinkedIn, 75 percent of workers now use AI at work. They claim that AI saves them time, boosts creativity, and allows them to focus on their most important work. However, while 79 percent of leaders believe that AI adoption will help their companies remain competitive, there is concern about quantifying AI’s productivity gains and implementing it effectively.
The Work Trend Index reveals that AI enables workers to find order in the chaos of their jobs. Many employees struggle with the pace and volume of their tasks, with nearly half feeling burned out. AI can help minimize stress and email overload, making work more manageable.
Moreover, having AI competency can give workers an edge in new career opportunities. Sixty-six percent of business leaders state that they won’t hire someone without AI skills. In the absence of formal training in the workplace, employees are taking matters into their own hands by enrolling in online courses from platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Amazon, and Google. With AI infiltrating every part of the workforce, being knowledgeable in the technology is becoming critical.
The Work Trend Index also highlights the rise of AI power users. These workers who extensively use AI save over 30 minutes per day and find their workload more manageable and enjoyable. Interestingly, their embrace of AI is often influenced by CEOs who emphasize the importance of using gen AI at work. Leaders encourage employees to explore using AI to transform their functions and provide tailored AI training for their jobs. This indicates that while executives may be hesitant to invest in AI for their organizations, they still recognize its value and encourage employees to find use cases for the technology.
To take advantage of employees’ enthusiasm for AI, organizations should identify a business problem and apply AI to solve it. They should also take a top-down, bottom-up approach, involving all levels of the organization to successfully turn an AI experiment into a transformative moment. Prioritizing AI training for workers is crucial to help them skill up and effectively use AI in their roles and functions.
For those looking to get started with AI, Microsoft is launching new features for Copilot for Microsoft 365, its AI-powered productivity tool. These features include an auto-complete feature, a rewrite feature, and a chat interface called Catch Up. These capabilities will be available in the coming months.
In conclusion, the BYOAI trend is reshaping the workplace as employees take the initiative to integrate AI into their daily tasks. The Work Trend Index highlights the benefits of AI in terms of time-saving, creativity, and reducing work-related stress. Having AI skills is becoming increasingly important for career advancement. Organizations can tap into their employees’ enthusiasm for AI by identifying business problems to solve with AI and prioritizing AI training. With the continued advancements in AI technology, businesses need to adapt and build agility to remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving work environment.