CEOs Mandate AI Use for Employees, But Avoid It Themselves

Disconnect between bosses and workers over AI's risks and rewards deepens

Mar. 13, 2026 at 12:09pm by Ben Kaplan

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Chief executives are pushing employees to use artificial intelligence, but a new survey shows that many CEOs and senior executives are using AI less than an hour per week themselves. The gap between leaders' expectations of AI's impact on productivity and employment versus frontline workers' more realistic views is widening the divide between bosses and employees.

Why it matters

This disconnect highlights the growing rift between corporate leaders who tout the benefits of AI and the real-world experiences of workers who are dealing with increased workloads and cognitive overload from the technology. It raises questions about whether executives fully understand the implications of AI on the workforce.

The details

The survey of over 6,000 senior executives across four countries found that nearly 70% of CEOs, CFOs and other top leaders use AI at work less than an hour per week, including 28% who never use it. In contrast, their employees are using AI 1.8 hours per week on average. Executives also have much higher expectations for AI's impact, predicting a 2.3% productivity boost in the U.S. versus workers' 0.9% forecast. Experts say this misalignment could lead to executives making decisions about AI and staffing that don't align with employees' real-world experiences.

  • The survey of over 6,000 senior executives was conducted in 2026.

The players

Nicholas Bloom

A renowned Stanford economist who co-authored the study on AI use by executives and employees.

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What they’re saying

“Employees probably don't see the full picture.”

— Nicholas Bloom, Economist

“Am I just going to get rid of that employee or reshape that entire division?”

— Anonymous Executive

The takeaway

This study highlights the growing disconnect between corporate leaders who are enthusiastically pushing AI adoption on their employees, while largely avoiding using the technology themselves. This misalignment risks deepening the divide between bosses and workers over AI's true impact and could lead to decisions that don't align with frontline realities.