Employees are using AI at work, either by instruction or by choice, but which jobs are using AI the most? There’s something new to learn about AI workplace trends every day, and each new update gives us additional insights into how the workplace is evolving. Gallup reported that the percentage of US employees who use AI at work at least a few times a year went up from 40% to 45% between the second and third quarters of 2025.
More frequent AI adoption at work increased from 19% to 23%, while daily use increased by a smaller degree, from 8% to 10%. These numbers show that employees are growing more comfortable with AI use, and while it does not tell us how productive this use is, it does tell us that the workplace is evolving in more ways than one.
Employees in tech and IT jobs are using AI the most in their work, but other industries are catching up quickly, relying on AI tools with greater frequency. (Image: Pexels)
Employees In Which Jobs Are Using AI the Most?
Gallup’s AI workplace survey has a bounty of information to offer on AI workplace trends and the many ways that technology is making its way into the workplace. As expected, employees in technology or information systems are the most rampant users of AI at work in the US, with 76% of them using the technology regularly. Employees in finance and professional services are next in line as top users, coming in at 58% and 57%, respectively.
Industries with higher rates of frontline employees have decidedly lower rates of AI adoption at work. Around 33% of employees in retail, 37% of workers in healthcare, and 38% of workers in manufacturing use AI with the same frequency. While the usage appears lower than in the tech industry, it is evident that employees in other industries are also experimenting with AI.
How Are Employees Using AI at Work?
Just as interesting as the rise of AI adoption at work is the specifics of how this technology is being used. Over four in ten employees in Q2 2025 who used AI at least yearly showed that they primarily used AI to consolidate information and generate ideas, approximately 42% and 36% respectively. Around 36% stated they used AI to learn new information, while 34% use it to automate basic tasks.
To a smaller degree, employees using AI also do so to identify problems in their work, which is a useful application of AI, but also one that could be worrying, considering the errors that are often detected in AI-based data. Employees also revealed that they used AI to interact with customers or colleagues, which further adds to concerns regarding the loss of skill-building that is currently being facilitated by frequent AI use.
The Gallup AI workplace survey also found that the large majority of workers access AI capabilities through chatbots and virtual assistants, with AI writing and editing tools making up the next most popular method of AI use, followed by AI coding assistants. While all of these use cases are certainly ways to seek efficiency gains via artificial intelligence, there is an urgent need for caution to prevent an over-reliance on technology.
Is This AI Usage Employer-Approved?
It’s no secret that employers across the US and beyond have begun to encourage employees to use AI in their work to explore different avenues for optimizing the technology. Some companies like Amazon and Duoligo have also set AI utilization as a promotion evaluation criterion or a way to determine whether to hire more workers, showcasing just how reliant companies are becoming on this technology.
While some businesses have invested in developing AI tools internally or licensing the technology from other businesses in order to facilitate its use within the workplace, others have left employees to their own devices to explore the technology that is freely available. When asked if their organization had implemented artificial intelligence to improve their business, only 37% of employees could say yes with certainty.
About 40% said their organization had not implemented AI technology to improve productivity, efficiency, and quality, while 23% said they did not know. There is likely a subset of employees who have not been explicitly asked to use AI in their work who are doing so anyway, which goes to provide further evidence in the rise of shadow AI. Without regulations, it will soon become harder for employers to determine what part of the work is being performed by AI, blurring their understanding of where errors are emerging from or just how well employees are performing.
The Use of AI in Daily Work May Be Low, but the Technology Is Firmly a Part of the Workplace
Workers in tech jobs are using AI the most in their work, seeking to improve the quality of their work or reduce the burdens of the tasks that are laid in front of them. This is unsurprising considering just how competitive the world of tech, and the AI industry in particular, has become. While the increasing use of AI in the workplace is evident across various sectors, demonstrating employees’ growing familiarity with the technology, there is a distinct lack of data on how effectively they are integrating AI into their daily tasks.
Deloitte’s erroneous AI reports are a public example of AI use that can lead a company astray, but this does not mean that more subtle issues with the technology have not occurred. While it is now becoming increasingly impossible to ignore the technology and continue on with business undeterred, it is also important to exercise caution while using the technology.
Which jobs do you think will be using AI the most in 2026? Share your predictions and opinions with us in the comments. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.