Forty-five percent of managers say that the use of AI has improved the work of their teams as much as they expected, according to a survey by Gartner.
“CHROs are under pressure to ensure effective workforce usage of AI tools, but they have overrelied on empowering employees to chart their own exploration of AI,” says Carmen von Rohr, senior principal in the Gartner HR practice.
“Thus far, HR has largely focused on empowering employees to explore, learn and innovate with AI and have overlooked the role of the manager in driving effective use of AI tools.”
A July 2025 survey of 2 986 employees revealed that 46% of managers are experimenting with AI to improve their work, compared to only 26% of employees. Another July 2025 Gartner survey of 1,973 managers found that just 14% said they do not face any challenges in driving effective use of AI across their team.
Gartner has identified three actions CHROs and their teams must take to leverage managers to achieve effective usage of AI tools:
Prepare managers with a toolbox to integrate AI into work
Managers are uniquely positioned to support employee integration of AI into their work. However, managers’ support needs will vary based on their function, team composition and team proximity to AI. Additionally, managers must be cognizant of the operational and emotional resistance AI transformation can trigger among employees.
“Managers must find a balance – ensuring they don’t lose trust and confidence with their teams while also translating the benefits of AI they observe into the value narratives senior leaders and the business desire,” says von Rohr.
AI implementation requires more change management than any previous technology. CHROs and their teams can support managers as they lead the integration of AI into work by:
- Identifying context-specific motivations, frustrations and challenges of different teams to tailor AI training and support
- Preparing managers to help employees tackle emotional resistance to AI change
- Coaching managers on communicating AI value upward effectively.
Align managers to organisational expectations
While many organisations encourage employees to utilise AI, few have established or communicated explicit expectations regarding effective use and what outcomes are anticipated.
CHROs and their teams need to transparently communicate to managers the organization’s expectations for effective AI use and any required behavioural changes. For instance, managers may be asked to identify and eliminate ineffective organisational practices, and employees should be focused on reducing unproductive individual behaviours.
Equip managers to guide employee redeployment of time saved
“Most organisations are currently only seeing employees save small and fractured blocks of time through the use of AI,” says von Rohr. “This will change as the technology evolves. Once employees are saving significant blocks of time through AI use, that saved time will need to be effectively redeployed.”
Yet, a July 2025 Gartner survey of 114 HR leaders found that just 7% of organizations provide guidelines on how to use time saved by AI.
Further complicating the matter is a lack of agreement on where saved time should be redeployed.
The July 2025 Gartner survey revealed that 55% of HR leaders would like employees to redeploy a hypothetical hour freed up by AI to work on special projects outside their core job; a July 2025 Gartner survey of 1 973 managers found that only 28% would prioritise this activity.
CHROs must help managers tie activities to impact in order to direct employees on how to redeploy time freed by AI.
Managers then work with employees to identify specific, growth-driving activities that make valuable use of time saved by AI by asking:
- What are “value-added” activities for their role/function, as measured by human or business outcomes?
- What skills should be the focus of development?
- What growth-driving activities best suit their capabilities and aspirations?