A growing gap between words and action is holding the UK back in its race for AI leadership. Our 16th Annual Dayforce Pulse of Talent survey found that while an overwhelming 87 percent of UK executives agree employers should reskill their people for the AI era, just 14 percent of their organisations actually follow through.
This gap between stated position and practical reality risks undermining the ROI that leaders are chasing, epitomised by the fact that nearly three-quarters (74%) of the UK workforce received no AI training in the past year.
This lack of action is creating a serious weakness: a three-speed organisation where executives race ahead, managers struggle to keep up, and most employees are left behind. The AI conversation has evolved. It’s no longer about whether businesses should adopt AI, but how they can do it in a way that brings everyone along.
The real path to unlocking AI’s value isn’t about faster technology. It’s about stronger support for people. Now is the time for HR and business leaders to step up and reinforce the three pillars that will define AI success: training, transition, and trust.
Close the training gap to gain a talent advantage
This disconnect is fuelled by pressure from the top. Leaders feel a need to keep pace with disruption, but the “move fast and break things” mentality has gone mainstream, prioritising adoption over caution. This has a clear consequence as it creates a divide between those driving innovation and those struggling to keep pace, where workers who feel left behind become disengaged and resistant to the very tools meant to drive progress.
To bridge this divide, organisations must move beyond lip service and treat AI proficiency as a baseline skill, not a perk. This means integrating AI into everyday work situations and tasks, allowing people to build confidence through practical, low-stakes applications.
The most effective strategy is to use AI to solve the AI training problem itself. By adopting learning technology that uses AI to match employees with personalised training modules, businesses can close skills gaps at scale. Rather than one-off workshops, it’s about creating a culture of continuous learning where progress is visible, and development is woven into the fabric of the organisation.
Invest in transition support and growth
One flaw in many AI strategies is risking the failure to support the employees most affected by the change. With 40 percent of UK workers already seeing their roles changing – or expecting change soon – they are facing new responsibilities and an uncertain future, sometimes without the necessary support structures. This void breeds uncertainty and disengagement, directly impacting both productivity and retention.
HR leaders must bridge this chasm between strategy and execution. The irony is that AI itself can be the bridge. Instead of letting careers be sidelined by change, leaders can empower employees to take charge of their own development with AI-driven, skills-based career exploration tools. These platforms can illuminate pathways they never knew existed. Our data shows where this is already working, with 72 percent of UK executives reporting that using AI to match employees with internal opportunities delivers significant value.
By using technology that actively matches an employee’s talent profile with open roles, workforce uncertainty can be turned into resilience. Employees can see that their futures are being invested in, not just the company’s technology stack, turning a moment of potential vulnerability into a powerful tool for retaining top talent.
Build trust through transparency and accountability
The promise of AI cannot be realised without trust, and our data reveals there is a trust deficit: while 58 percent of UK employees see ethical challenges in AI, only 21 percent of organisations have a person or team dedicated to its responsible use. Without clear accountability, ethics can become an afterthought.
This automatically creates a trust gap, further illustrated by the fact that UK executives are 33 percent more likely than their workforce to trust employers to use AI responsibly. As our report concludes, when an organisation’s people don’t trust AI, they resist using it. When adoption slows, the potential for ROI slips further out of reach.
To earn the confidence of the workforce, organisations must prioritise transparency. A critical first step is to establish a centralised communication hub where employees can get clear, consistent updates about AI in their workplace. Operationally, businesses must choose technology with built-in safeguards, security controls, and permissioning that respects their organisational structure.
Finally, leaders must ensure they implement solutions that allow them to limit or restrict AI capabilities where needed. This demonstrates that a human is always in control, turning scepticism into the confidence needed to drive adoption.
The right skills
The race to AI supremacy will not be won by the company with the fastest algorithm, but by the one that brings its entire workforce along on the journey. AI is unlikely to slow down, but success is less about speed and more about planning and deploying AI in a smarter way. This requires leaders to make intentional choices that connect technology with trust, and innovation with inclusion.
By equipping people with the right skills, guiding them through career shifts with transparent support, and building a foundation of trust, HR leaders can close the gaps, unify their three-speed organisation, and build a resilient, AI-fluent workforce ready to capitalise on AI’s potential – and further their own careers in the process.
In her role, Amy is responsible for overseeing people operations and strategies across the company’s global footprint. With a proven track record in the technology industry, Amy has extensive experience driving global business growth through talent and organizational development, workforce engagement and inclusivity, and operational efficiencies.
Amy joined Dayforce in 2024. Prior to that, she worked as Chief Human Resources Officer at Cohesity, a leader in AI-powered data security and management. She previously served as CPO at Symantec and Silver Spring Networks, and in senior HR leadership roles at Cisco, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Frito-Lay.
She has been recognized by the National Diversity Council as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology and has been named a Distinguished Alumni by the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, where she received an M.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations and a B.S. in Journalism and Public Relations.
