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Last time I wrote about why speed compounds workload while depth compounds value. The response told me something: you felt that one. A lot of you are living inside the speed trap right now, watching your teams churn through AI-assisted busywork while the real gains stay locked behind a door nobody's opening.
So here's the variable that determines whether any of it works.
And almost nobody is measuring it.
The Number That Should Keep You Up Tonight
Gallup dropped their Q4 2025 workplace AI data, and one number jumped off the page:
only 9% of U.S. employees say they are "very comfortable" using AI at work.
Nine percent. (Think the principle from Ferris Bueller… Nine Percent)
Not 9% have access. Not 9% have tried it. Nine percent feel comfortable using it.
Meanwhile, your dashboard probably says something like "60% adoption" because that's the number Deloitte found for AI access across enterprises. Access expanded 50% in a single year. Sounds like progress, right?
Here's the part nobody's putting on the slide: among workers who have access, daily usage hasn't budged. Same percentage as last year.
You doubled the roads.
Nobody's driving on them.
So when you walk into your next leadership check-in and report that adoption number, ask yourself: are you reporting the number that matters, or the one that's easy to pull?
The IT strategy every team needs for 2026
2026 will redefine IT as a strategic driver of global growth. Automation, AI-driven support, unified platforms, and zero-trust security are becoming standard, especially for distributed teams. This toolkit helps IT and HR leaders assess readiness, define goals, and build a scalable, audit-ready IT strategy for the year ahead. Learn what’s changing and how to prepare.