CEOs Driving AI with Employee Feedback

How CEOs Use Employee Feedback to Drive Smarter AI Adoption

By Juan Jose (JJ) Ayala, Executive Director, Team Percepto

AI adoption is advancing quickly, yet the way it is introduced into workplaces often determines whether it helps or hinders employee satisfaction. Articles frequently highlight the broad risks and opportunities of AI, but they rarely address the most important factor: how employees themselves perceive the technology and how confident they feel in using it. At Team Percepto, we believe the path forward is not about applying one-size-fits-all solutions, but about gathering the direct voices of your workforce to guide a smarter, more personalized AI strategy.

Recent reports confirm what many leaders already suspect. Asana’s State of AI at Work found that 82% of employees have not received training on generative AI, meaning most are handed tools without proper preparation. Pew Research shows that only 16% of U.S. employees say AI plays even a small role in their work today, while 63% report that AI has little to no presence in their jobs. The American Management Association notes that companies who build strategies with clear governance and structured training see measurable increases in employee trust, while SHRM warns that rushed rollouts erode engagement. Harvard Business Review goes further, showing that when employees are excluded from AI decision-making, anxiety rises and adoption lags, but when they are included, both performance and satisfaction improve. These findings illustrate that while AI promises efficiency, the employee experience determines whether that promise is ever realized.

In my view, learning AI is much like learning how to drive. Most of us did not start by merging onto a highway. We began in the safest way possible: sitting on a parent’s lap, turning on the ignition, practicing with the clutch and first gear, trying straight parking, driving slowly around a dirt lot, then moving into neighborhood streets with supervision, taking lessons, passing a driving test, and finally earning our license. Even after that, the more we drove, the more confident we became. AI should be treated the same way inside organizations. Small, supervised steps lead to confidence. Proper training builds skill. Structured guidance reduces risk. Over time, employees who learn at their own pace become highly capable drivers of AI within their roles.

This is why asking employees directly is so critical. Leaders can easily find articles that outline the pros and cons of AI, but those summaries are not personalized to your business. Every company has its own processes, cultures, and workforce dynamics. What frustrates an employee in healthcare may be very different from what excites an employee in finance. Without listening to your own people, training programs risk being generic, adoption risks being shallow, and satisfaction risks falling. By contrast, when employees are asked what they know about AI, whether they have sought training outside of work, and how they believe AI could benefit them, organizations gain clarity. They learn which skills need strengthening, which fears need addressing, and which opportunities can deliver genuine productivity improvements.

Team Percepto’s role is to provide a safe, neutral way to collect this feedback. Employees are more open when they know their voices will be heard without fear of retaliation. Our research approach ensures that the insights executives receive are honest, specific, and actionable. This empowers leaders to design training programs and implementation plans that feel tailored, not forced. It also signals to employees that their perspective matters, which is itself a driver of satisfaction and trust.

For CEOs, the benefit of this approach is clear. AI adoption cannot be driven only by technology teams or consultants. It requires executive leadership that is informed by real employee sentiment. Team Percepto equips CEOs with the insights needed to understand where their workforce stands today, where the biggest opportunities and risks lie, and how to pace AI adoption in a way that builds trust and accelerates results. By grounding strategy in employee feedback, executives can champion AI as a cultural shift that strengthens both performance and satisfaction.

The companies that will win with AI are those that take the time to listen before they act. By treating AI training as a gradual learning curve, like the process of learning to drive, and by prioritizing employee voices over generic assumptions, organizations can transform AI from a source of anxiety into a tool of empowerment. At Team Percepto, we help leaders uncover the insights that matter most, so that AI adoption is not only efficient, but also human-centered.

By Juan Jose (JJ) Ayala

Team Percepto, A Consumer and Business Research Insights Company, August 2025