Freshworks global study: How AI is unlocking higher-value work

Nearly two years into the world of generative AI, organizations are starting to understand how knowledge workers are using the new tools across every major function of business.

Freshworks recently released its 2024 Global AI Workplace Report, polling 7,000 employees worldwide and in all major departments. One major takeaway: AI is showing how it is boosting job performance and unlocking higher-value work for employees.

Equally revealing is the level of trust that employees are placing in AI despite ongoing questions and concerns about the technology. Nearly three in four workers surveyed (72%) trust AI to bring value to their work processes; even more (81%) trust AI because they believe its quality of work is good or it makes their team more productive.

Here are some other highlights of the study:

Workers are using AI, often without realizing it

IT leads all departments in AI usage, with 85% using it weekly. Marketing, at 80%, follows closely behind, using AI’s creative turbo-boost to rapidly produce higher-quality messaging and other creative assets.

Despite broader concerns about trust in AI, the survey report suggests that in the workplace, employees are using—and benefiting from—AI more than they realize. Four in 10 surveyed employees assume they use AI at work but report that they don’t know to what extent or how.

Key impacts and performance metrics

Workers are already seeing significant productivity gains from using AI at work. Surveyed employees in the Freshworks report estimate that AI is already cutting their workloads by three hours and 47 minutes in a typical workweek by summarizing reports, suggesting next steps, handling repetitive tasks, and other efficiencies.

By freeing up nearly 24 business days—or just over one month of work—per year employees can take on higher-value work that delivers greater engagement.

Balancing trust and opportunity

Employees are bullish on the value that AI can deliver in their careers. Seven in 10 employees believe AI will help them stay marketable. They also trust AI-generated work, but with caveats: 69% would trust AI even more with mandatory human review.

There is also a FOMO factor in play, as employees look to the competition and worry they’re being left behind. More than a third (37%) say adoption is happening for fear of not innovating fast enough, and over half (53%) attest to pushing AI internally to avoid being lapped by the competition.

Global workplace adoption

Despite being the epicenter of AI software development, the U.S. ranks dead last in AI adoption (50%), trust in workplace AI (59%), and comfort using AI (61%).

To put this into perspective, the numbers for India and the United Arab Emirates are significantly higher in every category: AI adoption (75%), trust in workplace AI (86%), and comfort using AI (88%).

For additional details and survey findings, check out the full report here.

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