Artificial intelligence investment is widespread, with 88% of companies reporting regular use.
However, many executives say adoption has stalled and performance gains are flattening, pointing to workforce psychology rather than technology as the constraint.
Fractional Insights and Ferrazzi Greenlight conducted two surveys covering more than 3,000 employees in the United States and Europe, in which roughly eight in ten workers reported strong concern about at least one AI-related anxiety measure. The pattern is consistent: “AI adoption stalls when the technology collides with how people understand their value, their risk, and their future.”
Optimism about AI’s business case remains high. About 86% of respondents believe AI will make work at least somewhat better.
Sixty-five per cent worry about being replaced by someone more proficient with AI. Sixty-one per cent fear it may reduce their perceived unique value. Four in ten employees strongly believe in AI’s business value while simultaneously fearing for their own relevance.
“Believing in AI’s business value doesn’t mean employees feel secure about their own future,” the researchers noted.
Finance and technology employees show the strongest belief in AI’s value — and the highest anxiety. Their AI angst scores were 48% higher than peers in manufacturing and education. In those sectors, exposure to disruption appears to heighten both awareness and personal risk.
“If adoption stalls, it is less likely to be because people doubt AI’s potential, but because they are actively managing their personal risk from it,” the study states.
Healthcare workers, by contrast, report lower anxiety, framing AI as mission-enhancing rather than replacement-driven. Education, retail and government employees show low belief and low fear, with indifference proving the primary barrier.
The research showed that employees with high AI anxiety reported 65% of their job was AI-assisted, compared with 42% among low-anxiety peers. Yet resistance scores were more than double.
“Fear about job loss or becoming obsolete can drive compliance and usage, but it does not necessarily produce true buy-in and commitment.”