AI raising employee expectations, research shows

Personal AI use has sparked a dramatic shift in workplace habits. What was once a novel experiment has quickly become a cornerstone in our daily lives.

Spending more time on AI technology at home has significantly boosted user confidence and spurred creative possibilities with its adoption and integration.

New research commissioned by Salesforce, conducted by YouGov, reveals an astonishing 86 per cent of Australian and New Zealand knowledge workers regularly use AI in their personal lives.

Seventy-four per cent of workers feel confident applying this knowledge to the workplace.

Employers would be smart to meet this demand – as consumers, 88 per cent of respondents are beginning to expect sophisticated enterprise tools that can provide quicker service, fewer errors, and more personalised experiences.

Kevin Doyle, regional vice president of Agentforce and Data 360 at Salesforce, explained that “companies can build on this confidence by ensuring that trust is the first ingredient, not an afterthought. Employees don’t want to leave AI at the office door.”

This sense of trust is more likely to be established with a sense of protection. The glaring gap now lies in regulation, both in terms of when AI is appropriate and which tools. A free-for-all approach would only leave space for miscommunication and error.

Leadership is being asked to provide strong guardrails to manage AI integration, with the top demands focusing on transparency and control, access to support, security and privacy safeguards, and easy access to approved tools.

This certainly rings true given the exponentially advancing capabilities of AI. Gone are the days of a simply chatty, helpful companion. As Salesforce explains, AI agents are the next big thing – the movers and shakers of the AI world that can mirror human thought and respond to enquiries without human intervention.

Seventy-six per cent of polled knowledge workers have already interacted with AI agents, and a whopping 95 per cent expect their roles to be positively impacted by these agents within the next two years.

Widespread use of such technology will transform the way companies interact with customers – and the effect has already started to take place. Student accommodation platform Scape has reported an 85 per cent improvement in response speeds through automated communication and operational summaries.

But with humans playing a less significant role in such roles, what does this mean for the future? Some don’t seem too worried about human replacement, including Scape CEO Anouk Darling, who expressed confidence in employee adaptation. “It doesn’t make us more robotic, it allows our team to be more present for our residents,” she said.

This sentiment is echoed by Scape’s senior brand and marketing manager, Heidi Verlaan, who enjoys the personalised support AI provides while being selective to “keep the human layer where it matters”.

Verlaan agreed with the large proportion of participating employees who feel ready to commit to AI use in the workplace, stating: “Personal use of AI – from travel planning to interior design – has trained me to explore and experiment more. It’s given me the confidence to move from AI happening in the background to something I actively choose to use.”

When AI is discussed in such a way, it shows a glimmer at the end of, for some, a frightening tunnel that leads to human redundancy. As AI becomes more advanced and autonomous, employers are duty-bound to provide guidelines and support, but at the end of the day, the onus is on the user to strike the right balance between meeting expectations and protecting their future in the workplace.