2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report regarding AI at Work

Introduction

Microsoft recently released the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report, which is titled “AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part.” I was reading it while on vacation in Greece and thought it might be interesting to share. It’s a report created by Microsoft, so it might be a little biased, but I think it reflects the current situation for knowledge workers pretty well. The subheading is “Employees want AI, leaders are looking for a path forward.” There are three ways to check out the report. First, there’s the web version, which has all the relevant info. Then there’s a one-page executive summary, and you can also download the full 38-page PDF report. Let’s look at the three key findings. I won’t cover every detail of the report here—this is just a summary of what I think is important.

Finding 1: Employees want AI at work – and they won’t wait for companies to catch up.

AI is already part of the daily work of a knowledge worker. In fact, 75% of knowledge workers are already using AI at work today. The users surveyed reported several benefits they get from using AI tools. For them, it’s not just about working faster; they want to work smarter. They see AI as a way to improve their working speed and produce higher-quality work. The problem is that the leaders aren’t keeping up with the pace of AI users. While they agree that AI is a necessity, the issue for leaders is that they’re under pressure to show the immediate ROI for those new (and mostly expensive) solutions. Because there’s not much guidance from the top, employees are looking for ways to use their AI tools (Bring Your Own AI – BYOAI). This is a topic for all company sizes, but it’s more significant at small and medium-sized companies. BYOAI is a topic that affects everyone, regardless of age. It’s something that declines from Gen Z to Boomers.

Another issue with using AI tools is that people are reluctant to admit using them for their most important tasks. This might be because they’re afraid that using AI might make them look replaceable.
BYOAI means missing out on the benefits that would come from strategic AI use. This includes having a clear vision for the tools, using the right tools, and training to get the most benefit from using the provided tools. On the other hand, BYOAI puts the company’s information at risk because the users might be using publicly available AI tools that will use the provided data to further improve the model.

Just to give you an idea of what we’re talking about, here’s an example from Open AIs, which is probably the most famous tool out there at the moment, ChatGPT:

Another reason for BYOI is that work has picked up speed faster than employees can keep up. They’re overworked and feeling burned out. There’s a lot of email, meetings, and after-hours work.

From my perspective, AI isn’t the answer. Knowledge workers and companies should invest in different ways of organizing work. I highly recommend checking out Cal Newport’s books on that topic. I wrote an article about the book Deep Work, which explains how you can improve your work quality. You might also want to check out his other books, like A World Without Email or Slow Productivity. I still want to read A World Without Email, but Slow Productivity is great!

Finding 2: For employees, AI raises the bar and breaks the career ceiling.

There’s a shortage of leaders looking for qualified new employees. On the other hand, qualified professionals are still concerned that AI will replace their jobs. The survey also found that more employees are thinking about leaving their jobs to take advantage of new opportunities. Leaders are worried about filling the following roles:

The report shows that leaders have been hiring AI experts over the last few years. If you’re applying for a new job, your chances are much higher if you can show you have AI skills. At the same time, leaders aren’t showing the same level of commitment to training their own people. Professionals aren’t waiting for their companies to provide them with training. They’re getting trained anyway because they see the importance of the topic and want to stay competitive in the job market. LinkedIn is seeing a rise in users taking LinkedIn Learning courses on AI, and the data shows that users are adding AI skills to their profiles. For the majority of people, AI isn’t replacing their job, it’s transforming it. When it comes to hiring new employees, there’s a better chance of finding new talent when you include AI in your job post.

From my perspective, the report shows that it’s important for everyone to take a look at these new technologies and skill up. If you’re looking for a new job that doesn’t involve AI, your additional AI skills might make the difference when you apply. But this doesn’t just apply to switching jobs. AI skills could be useful for improving your current role and producing work of a higher quality in a faster or perhaps less stressful way.

Finding 3: The rise of the AI power user—and what they reveal about the future.

The third finding goes into more detail about AI power users. They say that using AI helps them feel less overwhelmed by their work and gives them a boost in creativity. They also say that AI helps them focus on what’s important and that they feel more motivated and enjoy their work more. I think these are all good reasons to start using AI tools more.

The survey also tried to figure out what sets a regular user apart from an AI power user. The following habits were more common among AI power users:

1. pause before a task and ask themselves how AI can help them solving it
2. invest in finding the perfect prompt
3. research and try new ways of prompting
4. use AI to start their day or for preparing for the following day
5. catch up on missed meetings
6. analyze information
7. design visual content
8. interact with customers
9. brainstorm or problem-solve
10. redesign their business processes and workflows with AI

I think this is a great list of AI applications in your daily work. Also, check out my list of Copilot for Microsoft 365 use cases. You might find something new there that you can apply to your daily work. Just remember that there are lots of AI tools out there, and there’s no one perfect tool that can do everything. You’re probably looking for a tool that can help you with a specific problem.

The survey also found out how AI power users are supported by their company. First, it’s not just the boss who tells the AI power user that using generative AI at work is important. They get this from more senior leaders all the way up to the CEO. Another interesting finding is that users feel empowered when their company is ready to embrace change. This is because they are encouraged to think about how AI can transform their function and if the company supports innovation in general. The last thing the report mentions is that AI power users got training, including training in how to write prompts and were given use cases.

I think training is really important for making sure AI tools are used effectively in a company. When I first started using Copilot for Microsoft 365, I was pretty overwhelmed. I couldn’t find a use case where I could use this tool to be more productive. It’s important to give your employees the time and resources to learn the basics of these new tools. Encouragement from leaders is crucial.

Conclusion

There’s currently a lot on the employees’ plates, and they’re struggling to keep up. We can’t solve this problem with AI alone. We need to come up with new ways of working together that reduce the need for constant context switching during the workday. This is because of the constant flood of instant messages, emails and team sessions. I really recommend Cal Newport‘s books or podcasts on this topic. BYOAI is a big deal because of data protection concerns. It’s in companies’ best interests to try to benefit from employees’ desire for AI.

I hope you enjoyed this article!