Slack’s latest Workforce Lab research among 5,000 full-time desk workers in the United States, Australia, India, Singapore, Ireland and the UK has found there are five AI personas, based on current use of AI, and emotions and perspectives towards the technology.

With employers rushing to implement AI – an increase of up to 7x since the start of 2024 according to Slack – HR leaders will need to recognize these distinctly different types of worker to realize effective use of the technology going forward.

The highest populated (30%) of the user groups were ‘Maximalists,’ those employees using AI on a regular basis, multiple times a week, and are particularly vocal about it. 

These employees are more open about using AI at work and actively encourage colleagues to also use it (65%), with the goal of achieving higher quality output.

Around half of this group of AI users said their employer has actively encouraged the use of AI regardless of whether there are guidelines in place or not.

Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH about the findings, Christina Janzer, SVP of Research and Analytics at Slack, said that trust will be a “key driver” in helping Maximalists use AI in a safe and ethical way – although this was also true across all the user groups.

“There’s three actions leaders can take to encourage responsible AI adoption: permissions, education and training,” Janzer says.

“By providing employees with clear guidance and learning opportunities around AI, we can encourage employee adoption while also providing important guardrails around its usage.”

Bringing AI use out of the shadows

Similarly to Maximalist users, the ‘Superfans’ are excited about AI use and admire the advances in technology, but have yet to adopt AI into their work on a regular basis, according to the research

Around three quarters (72%) of Superfans use AI less than once per month, while a similar percentage (76%) said they “admire” colleagues that apply AI to their work in creative ways.

Workers that are using AI more often but keeping it quiet were labelled as the ‘Underground’ by Slack – representing the second largest group in the research (20%).

Over half of this group of AI users, also referred to as Maximalists in disguise, are using AI at least a couple of times per week (55%), but 74% said they don’t actively share their use or encourage others to use AI tools.

Just under half (43%) of Superfans said their employers do not encourage the use of AI in their workplace.

Janzer tells UNLEASH that as employers implement AI more widely, the goal should be to bring Underground users “out of the shadows”.

“To do that, we need to bring AI out in the open and make it clear that AI usage is not only allowed but encouraged,” she says.

Leaders can do this first by providing clear permissions and guidance about how AI should be used – and not used – at work. Another important piece is culture”

Janzer recommends that HR leaders should openly discuss their own AI use and create space for employees to share use cases and learnings with each other on a regular basis.

Convincing the unconvinced to get on board

The remaining two persona groups will potentially be the hardest to convince to engage with AI.

‘Observers’ are yet to integrate AI use into their work and remain content to watch others do so with interest from the sidelines.

Two in three (66%) Observers said they were indifferent to the use of AI in their workplace, although one third did say they were interested in learning or further developing AI skills.

The final group were labelled in the research as ‘Rebels’ – workers who do not subscribe to the AI hype, avoid using it at work (66%) and consider it an unfair advantage for others to do so (39%).

Furthermore, over half (58%) of Rebels said they believe AI is a threat to wider society.

To help encourage these two groups of workers to engage with AI, Janzer says it is best to “start small” with Observers by showing them the value of AI.

“Observers are disengaged and often indifferent about AI, so leaders need to start by showing these employees why AI is worth their while and what they stand to gain by using AI at work,” she recommends.

Meanwhile, the conversion of Rebels into AI users and supporters will require an investment of time and resources, Janzer warns.

She also details that 60% of Rebels were women who “largely see AI as a threat.”

“To bridge this gap, leaders need to sit down with these employees and help them see AI not as a threat but as an opportunity to redesign and improve their job,” Janzer says.

This open dialogue, coupled with training and guidance, will help Rebels build trust, understanding and interest in AI.”

Making AI work for workers

As AI proliferates through both the workplace and the personal lives of workers, attitudes towards it will inevitably change. 

While executives and leaders are steaming forward with AI as a top priority, much of this will hinge on user’s adoption of the technology, Janzer tells UNLEASH.

In order to make AI work for workers, she says HR leaders need to understand their employees and that while these persona groups can be used as a “valuable roadmap”, they are not permanent either.

“These are a snapshot that shows leaders where their employees are and how we can help them continue on their AI journey,” she explains.

“Leaders that can show they are helping employees by creating an environment where people can work effectively alongside AI, are best positioned to attract talent in the future.”

The research into AI personas can also be useful in helping HR leaders create AI use guidelines and policies, an essential component in employers realizing successful and ethical use of AI.

“I’d encourage every leader to invite their team members to take this quiz and set aside time to discuss the results,” Janzer adds.

“By understanding how employees feel about AI – and the unique blockers standing in the way of their adoption – leaders can create more tailored guidance.”

AI in action for internal mobility at Salesforce

Salesforce, which acquired Slack in July 2021, is one such employer with a close eye on AI skills among its workforce.

The CRM software giant has launched its AI-powered  internal talent marketplace, Career Connect, to provide its employees with customizable career paths based on skills and aspirations in what it terms an ‘AI-driven future’.

Career Connect allows Salesforce employees to create a profile that automatically infers skills from their job history, before suggesting new roles, gigs or stretch assignments, and upskilling opportunities from across the company – all embedded through Slack workflow.

Considering how the talent marketplace will help maximize the strengths and address the weaknesses of the five AI user groups detailed in Slack’s research, Lori Castillo Martinez, EVP, Talent Growth & Development at Salesforce, tells UNLEASH that is helps put AI “into the hands of our employees and reskill our workforce to be prepared for the jobs of the future.”

“Career Connect is how we’re creating a broad ecosystem of options for employees to grow their careers – regardless of where they are in their AI adoption journey,” she explains. 

Across the organization, it also helps us see what skills are trending up or down and where we may need to invest in more skilling or training opportunities.”

Salesforce conducted a pilot of Career Connect earlier this year among 1,200 employees within its customer success, employee success, and business technology teams.

It found that 91% of the roles that were filled by pilot participants were surfaced to those individuals through Career Connect, while 74% of employees actively engaged with the platform, logging in multiple times throughout the pilot to look for jobs, gigs, and upskilling opportunities.

Furthermore, more than one third (39%) of pilot participants enrolled in courses and trainings that were surfaced to them.

Martinez tells UNLEASH that one pilot participant shared that Career Connect pulled skills from a role she had prior to Salesforce, and combined them with the skills she had in her previous position to match her with a new role in the company. 

“She said: ‘It’s hard to always know what opportunities exist – Career Connect removes the guesswork.’”