The investigation not only reveals a “AI preparation gap”, but also an emerging phenomenon of “shame of AI” in the workplace, in particular in the suite C

The results come from Walkme, a SAP company, which interviewed more than 1,000 American workers for the 2025 edition of its “AI in the workplace” survey. Almost half of employees (48.8%) admit that they have hidden their use of AI at work to avoid judgment, which suggests that something like “shame of AI” is a real phenomenon in the workplace. This discomfort is particularly pronounced at the top, with 53.4% ​​of C -Suite leaders admitting that they hide their AI habits – despite the most frequent users. Entry -level workers are not exempt, but the paradox deepens at the executive level, stressing how uncomfortable employees remain uncomfortable.

Gen Z: eager, but not taken care of

The relationship of generation Z with AI seems both enthusiastic and anxious. A shot of 62.6% finished the work using AI, but claimed that it was all their own efforts – the highest rate among any generation.

More than half (55.4%) simulated an AI understanding during meetings. Their behavior depends on the context: 28.4% exaggerate their use from AI to some, while 13.5% minimize it to others. Curiously, it may depend on who they talk. But only 6.8% report a complete and time -consuming IA and 13.5% training. It is the lowest in all age groups. Despite this, 89.2% crushing use AI at work – and as much (89.2%) use tools that were not provided or sanctioned by their employer. Only 7.5% said they had received in -depth training with AI tools. This is an surprisingly low advance compared to 2024, when the same workme survey revealed that 7.0% declared in -depth training – just an increase of 0.5%.

Sharon Bernstein, human resources chief for Walkme, said Fortune In an interview that “companies do not educate enough on all of this”, saying that they do not seem to facilitate the use of AI tools. They “do not form their employees enough today, or do not guide … even if you are an incredible IOC and you are allowed to buy some different tools for AI, how much was it adopted? Like, for real? “

The AI ​​class gap and a productivity paradox

Access to training and AI advice increases with the row and size of the company. Only 3.7% of entry -level employees receive substantial training, compared to 17.1% of level C executives. The younger and junior staff are not taken care of – a difference that may cement an “AI class division” where the most frequent users must navigate alone.

AI changes work and the survey does not always suggest for the best. Most employees (80%) say that AI has improved their productivity, but 59% admit to having spent more time fighting with AI tools than if they had just done the work themselves. Generation Z again leads to the fight, with 65.3% saying that AI slows them down (the highest quantity of all groups), and 68% feeling pressure to produce more work because of this. Almost one in three are deeply worried about the impact of AI on their work, saying that they are worried “a lot” of its impact on their work. Confidence is mixed: only 45%of generation Z say that they are “very confident” using AI – less than millennials (56.3%) and equally with generation X (43.2%).

How it fits into the image

These gaps, around the preparation for AI and variable levels of the shame of AI, are part of an emerging image of confusing, if not chaotic implementation, of AI in the workplace, from the level of entry to the C. For example, more than half of the professionals say they are overwhelmed by AI training initiatives, affirming that it looks like “a second job” – adding stress and Long, often with few tangible advantages for workflows. Although it is speculative to connect the appropriate lack of training in the Bombshell MIT study showing an amazing failure rate of 95% for generative AI pilots in large companies, there is clearly a problem that goes from the drawing board to the factory flick. In addition, this disconnection between the drainage of the company and the actual commercial value fits the concerns of investors concerning a bubble of potential AI.

Another major study, the first of its kind in the field, came out of Stanford and the superior economist Erik Brynjolfsson, an opinion leader in the field of AI. Since the end of 2022, his team has discovered, when the generative AI has exploded on the scene, there was really the start of a statistically significant drop in entry -level hiring, in jobs directly exposed to AI automation. This means that mastery of AI tools will be extremely important for entry -level workers, and this Workme survey suggests that they get the least training.

Finally, the survey is part of the trend of “the shadow of the shadow”, where workers massively use these tools, but companies are more late in the official adoption of AI tools. Many colleges prohibit AI tools, for their part, because they try to stem what they perceive as a creeping “cheating” crisis. Of the market, where investors fear a bubble, at the entrance level, where workers try to match their ghost use of AI to their real performance, following C, where managers are under pressure to revolutionize their businesses and obtain results with this new technology, there is an emerging gap between theory and reality.

Bernstein said that from his point of view as a leader in human resources: “First of all, you want people to fear that they use it, right?” She urged businesses to be transparent on how they really plan to use AI to move the fear of AI tools used to replace workers, on the one hand and even installation by using it, on the other. “I don’t really think we can literally replace employees,” she added, “perhaps in very specific positions, but in general, I think companies are now in a step they need to educate their team members about it.”

Growing axis, decrease in preparation

The concern for the effect of AI on jobs is intensification. 44.8% of workers are worried and the proportion “very worried” has increased since last year. Generation Z feels it the most acute: 62.2% say they are worried about the impact of AI, with 28.4% “very worried” – the highest rate between age groups. Stress levels are up for 27% of generation Z, the highest of any generation. However, hope persists: 89.6% want to know more about AI, and 86% believe that AI mastery is essential for professional success.

The results indicate an urgent need for employers to fill the AI ​​preparation gap, offering clear advice, complete training and transparent policies. Those at the forefront of the adoption of AI – whether in the conference room or among generation Z – support, not secret. As the tools proliferate and expectations increase, organizations are likely to erode confidence, productivity and emotional well-being unless this problem is solved.

For this story, Fortune Used a generative AI to help an initial project. An editor checked the accuracy of the information before the publication.