AI is making its way into workers’ everyday lives.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already here, profoundly influencing workers’ daily lives. Several studies indicate that the proportion of employees rejecting this technology has been steadily decreasing, though it remains significant. At the same time, many have taken the initiative even faster than their companies, using applications on their own, which can lead to distortions and security issues. It is a context that swings between fear and anticipation, highlighting the growing need to accelerate internal training so that the deployment of algorithms is orderly and genuinely useful.

Pedro César Martínez Morán, Director of the Master’s in Talent Management at Advantere School of Management (Comillas Pontifical University), explains that adaptation is uneven and depends on each company: “The pace of adoption is creating a certain degree of workplace inequality. The speed of system implementation generates a gap. The same applies to company size—large companies have far more resources than smaller ones.”

“A skills gap related to the digital environment has also been identified. Naturally, the use of such systems will not be the same across the different levels of an organisation,” he adds.

The most recent surveys show that this rejection is gradually decreasing. According to a study conducted this year by InfoJobs, 24% of workers consider AI a threat to their job—a figure lower than the 37% recorded in 2024. Martínez Morán believes the growing acceptance is due to the fact that “AI should replace the most routine, repetitive, and least rewarding tasks; it does not eliminate creativity, innovation, or soft skills.” “Naturally, it is well received in many roles and by many employees,” he adds.

Consultancy firm Accenture has threatened (and is following through on it) to lay off staff who do not reskill for the new AI era. Its global workforce has already decreased by more than 11,000 people in the past three months, and it seems there is no bottom yet. Layoffs are expected to continue until November, and the criteria for avoiding redundancy are linked to the ability to adapt to new technologies. The fear among workers across various sectors that artificial intelligence could ultimately replace them is tangible.

“As with any new tool or paradigm shift, there is a natural fear of uncertainty. Until the implementation is seen and its potential impact understood, it is hard to gauge how it might affect people,” says Martínez Morán. He points out that corporate caution regarding the rollout of generative AI has several origins: “There are ethical risks related to algorithmic discrimination, digital surveillance, and privacy vulnerabilities, as international regulations—including the EU’s own framework—are highly sensitive to these issues.”

AI is transforming the model of labour relations. Juan Ramón González, CEO and co-founder of consultancy Mática Partners, states that “it is being experienced very intensely because it is helping people become more productive.” “Everyone is well aware that if they don’t start using it, they will face a competitive disadvantage compared to those who do,” he emphasises.

The clear evolution of human resources and work distribution allows Mática Partners to give employees more responsibilities—precisely thanks to AI, González explains: “We’ve embraced the change, which is why we want a more productive team. Artificial intelligence in our sector is another means of facilitating work and increasing efficiency. We can see it as a risk or as an opportunity. For us, it is an opportunity, which is why we have created an ecosystem equipped with virtual agents under the supervision of human staff. These are tools available to the team, so tasks will now take much less time and more people can be served.”

According to González, adapting to AI follows two paths: “On one hand, there is the company’s use of AI to improve and automate internal processes, which requires a strategy for control and proper use… Then there is the use of artificial intelligence by employees. They are two sides of the same coin, but both require a combination of security measures.”

He also warns of the risks of blind trust: “Human validation cannot disappear. Even if AI is 99% reliable, there is still 1% where it can hallucinate. In critical processes, having that validation is extremely important.”

A report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) notes that over 90% of employees surveyed use personal AI tools at work, relying on their own subscriptions to ChatGPT, free Claude accounts, or browser assistants such as Google. This contrasts sharply with the 40% of subscriptions paid for by companies. That employees are moving faster than their companies shows enthusiasm for disruptive technology, but using applications at their own risk can create security issues, such as the leakage of confidential data. “Corporate or standardised use does not always ensure controlled AI usage,” says the CEO of Mática Partners. “There have been reports of confidential information leaks. You have to remember that AI tools are usually cloud-based, and if information is sent outside, it can be exposed. Mechanisms must be in place to mitigate risks, raise awareness, and, of course, train employees on proper use, with all detection and risk mitigation measures in place.”

Encouraging self-directed AI skills highlights the need to accelerate internal training. Gerardo García, CTO for Spain at the HR multinational Gi Group Holding, explains that this enthusiasm can be harnessed for the company’s benefit: “We allow these people to explore in a very controlled environment. We provide levers, but without risking company data, and, above all, teaching them that rules of the game must be followed.”

Gi Group Holding has just published the study ‘Key Factors in Today’s Labour Market’, showing that the integration of AI-based technologies is expected to have the greatest impact on short- and medium-term professional development: 39% of respondents identify it as the change with the most influence on their careers over the next three years.

The research highlights that professionals are beginning to develop strategies to adapt to the new work environment. More than four in ten respondents say they are focused on improving and learning new tools to work with AI technologies. Next are the direct adoption of AI tools to boost productivity or accuracy (37.2%) and focusing on creative or strategic tasks where AI cannot replace humans (22.6%). García clarifies, “Most workers believe adaptation will be gradual, and it should be. No one goes from zero to expert overnight.”

“That is why at Gi Group Holding we proceed in a controlled and progressive way. We start with closed, secure environments, with proof-of-concept tests where teams can experiment with AI without fear of breaking anything. And most importantly, AI must adapt to people, not the other way around, be easy to use, and provide real value,” he stresses.

Regarding training, he believes that “AI still needs to be brought down to earth within organisations.” “Investment is being made, but not always with the right approach,” he maintains. “It’s not enough to teach people how to use a tool; they need to be taught how to think with artificial intelligence. At Gi Group Holding, we rely on our own tool (IA Gateway GIGPT), developed by our headquarters in Italy, to bring this technology closer to employees in a practical way. We want people to lose their fear and see how it can help them in their daily work, rather than replace them.”

Each company and sector will implement AI differently. In the case of SMEs and micro-SMEs, the main barriers to accessing training, according to Gi Group Holding’s CTO for Spain, are “time and resources.” “SMEs operate in day-to-day mode. Taking the time to learn AI can often feel like a luxury. In addition, there is an overload of courses and solutions that are not always useful or tailored to their needs. This is where large companies and technology partners have a key role in democratising access to AI through simple tools and realistic training,” he concludes.