AI Integration and Upskilling

Global attention to GenAI’s impact on the jobs market first exploded in November 2022, with the launch of ChatGPT, prompting executives and companies around the world to begin adopting this emerging technology.

Since then, many CEOs have witnessed promising results. The sentiment surrounding GenAI is largely optimistic, with our 28th PwC Annual Global CEO Survey showing that productivity and profitability benefits are starting to materialise. More than half of CEOs (56%) have seen GenAI improve efficiencies in how employees use their time, while around one-third reported increased revenue (32%) and profitability (34%). For the forthcoming 12 months CEOs expect all of these metrics to rise. This rising optimism is reflected in increasing headcounts, with 42% of CEOs globally expecting to increase their employee numbers by 5% or more in the next 12 months – up from 39% last year, and more than double those expecting headcount decreases (17%).

These figures are broadly consistent among executives, their employees and investors.

Our Global Investor Survey 2024, found that two-thirds of investors and analysts predict that the companies they invest in will achieve productivity gains from GenAI in the coming year. At PwC, we are already seeing top teams regularly achieving productivity improvements of 30% from AI solutions, which are being used to unlock cost savings, improve margins or capture more market share. 

Similarly, our latest PwC EMEA Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey, which surveyed 24,600 employees from 29 sectors in 27 countries and was published in June 2024, found that 56% of workers believe GenAI will boost their efficiency, with 70% feeling optimistic that emerging technology will continue to create opportunities to learn new skills. 

There is no denying that AI, and more specifically GenAI, is transforming how we live and work, and has the potential to contribute to economic and productivity growth by creating efficiencies in how much time employees spend on lower-value tasks to engage in higher value-strategic activities (PwC AI and productivity report).

As highlighted in PwC’s 2025 AI Predictions, the rules of competition are evolving rapidly, with the traditional workforce on the brink of transformation. Even those at the forefront of AI — transforming our organisation and guiding clients through their own AI journeys — cannot fully predict what lies ahead.

What we do know is that success in this transformative era hinges on how leaders approach strategy, adapt to the evolving nature of work, and prioritise trust. 

Around a third of CEOs have a high degree of trust in embedding the technology into their company’s key processes, with half of companies (47%) expecting to integrate AI into their technology platforms over the next three years (PwC CEO Survey). 

Similarly, 41% expect to integrate AI into their core business processes, but just 31% say that they plan to integrate it into workforce and skills over the same period (PwC CEO Survey). While integrating AI into core business processes is a significant step forward, it is equally important to address the concern that technology implementation and upskilling should go hand in hand. This ensures that employees are well-equipped to work with AI and deliver on its promises. Without proper training and skill development, the potential benefits of AI may not be fully realised, and the workforce may struggle to adapt to new technologies. According to our PwC EMEA Workforce Hopes & Fears Survey (published in June 2024), only 9% of employees across the cluster said they use GenAI daily to perform their work, with regular use varying by generation, country and industry. With a quarter of respondents saying that their employer hasn’t given them access to GenAI or they are unsure how to use these tools, many workers are uncertain about how their skills need to evolve and lack sufficient support and opportunities for growth. It is understandable that people can’t use what they don’t have or understand. Employers have a responsibility to upskill their workforce, bringing their people on this change journey by building trust into how systems are designed and deployed. Therefore, a balanced approach that includes both technological advancements and comprehensive learning and development programs is essential for successful AI integration.

It’s not easy for leaders to have to fundamentally rethink processes, redefine roles, the skills and talent structures needed to thrive in the AI-driven age, but with AI-native competitors embracing bold, unconstrained strategies which are set to revolutionise and disrupt entire value chains, they must realise that experimenting with AI to achieve incremental gains on isolated tasks alone won't suffice. 

The future of GenAI in the workforce is uncertain, particularly regarding job augmentation and productivity growth.

Two key uncertainties will shape its near future: the level of trust in GenAI and whether its applicability and quality will improve in the short term. While some current use cases show promising results, widespread productivity impact requires time and experimentation.

To build trust there is a demand for transparency and responsible deployment by employers, technology providers and governments. Organisations are adopting responsible AI principles to improve explainability and mitigate risks.

Regulations, such as the European AI Act's "human-in-the-loop" principle, emphasise human accountability in decision-making, which may help increase trust in GenAI by establishing accountability and respecting human values (PwC AI and productivity report).

As these efforts progress, the true potential of GenAI in transforming the workforce will gradually unfold. 

By now you may have heard of AI agents. 

AI agents possess the capacity to make autonomous decisions and take actions to achieve specific goals with limited or no direct human intervention, and can create new opportunities to enhance both individual and business capabilities (PwC Agentic AI – the new frontier in GenAI (PDF)Opens in a new window (file size: 1.4 MB)).    

These intelligent systems are set to revolutionise our working lives. While workflows will fundamentally change and people will need to adapt, humans will still be instrumental, since game-changing value comes from a human-led, tech-powered approach. 

As the use of AI agents increases, they will take on some tasks that organisations currently outsource.

Beyond cost savings, organisations will have greater control, and the ability to customise and meet end user’s needs at scale. For example, AI agents can also help push the right information to the right people at the right time, allowing them to quickly and effectively address even complex customer and client needs in a hyper personalised way. 

At PwC, we recognise that AI is more than just a technological shift — it’s a fundamental transformation in how businesses operate, innovate, and compete. For example, we recently announced a strategic collaboration with Microsoft to help transform industries with AI agents. 

By integrating agentic AI, together with PwC’s extensive industry experience and advanced Microsoft technologies, including Copilot Studio, we are enabling our clients to transform their operations, enhance decision-making, and achieve lasting business value. The resulting combination of human ingenuity and the power of technology through our 'human-led, tech-powered’ approach, we are helping to drive transformative business outcomes for our clients.

Thinking about integrating an agentic workflow as a fundamental part of your workforce strategy may be a significant leap for many companies. However, since AI agents are partly autonomous, they require a human-led management model. This approach will involve creating new management roles responsible for integrating digital workers into workforce strategies, as well as monitoring and governing them.   

For example, people instruct and oversee AI agents as they automate simpler tasks. People iterate with agents on more complex challenges, such as innovation and design. And people ‘orchestrate’ teams of agents, assigning tasks and then improving and stitching together the results.

Leadership must model these new ways of working and provide assurance that AI is designed to enhance people's value, not replace them. 

As we have already touched on, leaders can help accelerate adoption through a holistic and well-defined responsible AI strategy and framework, helping to instil confidence and trust in their workforce that the risks associated with GenAI are understood and there are guardrails in place.

Providing resources for experimentation and learning is also key. By guiding your workforce towards some initial use cases to upskill can help them become comfortable with the technology and ignite their curiosity, empowering them to explore its potential further. For example, data from our PwC AI and productivity report in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, found that early adopters emphasised the importance of developing and testing GenAI solutions in small groups before wider implementation, focusing on risk management and ‘human-in-the-loop’ processes.

Similarly, fostering a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and exploration can empower your workforce to uncover the potential of GenAI and AI agents, thereby driving innovation and growth.

The sooner you begin thinking this way — and transforming your operating model to plan, train, and manage a blended digital and human workforce — the better positioned you will be to capitalise on AI. 

Maximising productivity gains will require a blend of human ingenuity and technological advancements. By establishing and increasing trust in GenAI through a responsible AI strategy that hinges on accountability and respecting human values, leadership can help foster a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous learning, empowering their workforce to discover the value of GenAI and AI agents to drive transformative business outcomes.

Ultimately, leadership must also determine when and where human oversight will be essential, and design modern talent architectures with new hiring, performance management and compensation strategies. HR's responsibility extends beyond just embracing the opportunities GenAI offers; it also includes ensuring the availability of skilled individuals to execute the company's strategy in the future, involving the implementation of strategic workforce planning, L&D, change management, and transformative leadership.

In order to compete in the age of AI, speed matters more, scale matters less, innovation matters most.

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