January 6, 2026
AI and Your Workforce: Turning AI Optimism into Operational Reality
If the Architects of AI were TIME’s “Person of the Year” in 2025, then 2026 is the time for business leaders to be the architects of how AI will transform their organizations now and into the future. The good news is, more people in the workforce than you think are ready for this transformation right now. Sure, there are many headlines that still focus on the “threats” of AI in the workplace, but there are plenty of individuals out there who are eagerly adopting AI and recognizing its positive impact on themselves and their jobs.
“AI is reshaping work at an extraordinary speed. Workers are largely energized by AI’s possibilities, but organizations must rethink how they operate or risk missing the broader value AI can deliver,” said Matt Rosenbaum, Principal Researcher, Human Capital, at The Conference Board, with the release of the organization’s recent report that shows workers “overwhelmingly believe AI will improve their jobs.”
But companies may not be ready. As organizations face the challenge of integrating AI, a massive disconnect is forming between the tools we use and the strategy required to make them work. ECLARO Co-Founders Paul Sheridan and Tom Sheridan take a dive into this report, looking at the current AI landscape and what it means for the future of your workforce—and the importance of building that workforce with the Right People, now more than ever.
Harnessing the AI-Ready Mindset
The Numbers: 85% of workers believe AI will improve their jobs, and 91% say it has already changed their tasks.
The Theme: The Cultural Shift Toward Utility We are witnessing one of the fastest cultural shifts in workplace history…yes, it just shifted some more. And workers aren’t hiding from AI, they are inviting it in. When 9 out of 10 employees report that their daily tasks have already shifted, it means the “future of work” has already arrived. The challenge for leadership is no longer about convincing the team to use the tools—it’s about providing the framework to ensure those tools are used effectively and ethically.
ECLARO Intelligence: “The workforce isn’t just ready for AI, they are already evolving with it,” Paul Sheridan says. “At ECLARO, we believe the goal isn’t so much to just replace tasks as it is to amplify human ingenuity. When 87% of employees say they are seeing productivity gains, it’s a signal that AI is already making a difference, and it’s only going to become more of a transformative tool for the Right People.”
Moving from Tools to Transformation
The Numbers: 54% of business leaders say their organization has an insufficient link between AI redesign and business strategy.
The Theme: The Roadmap Requirement There is a difference between using AI and being an AI-driven organization. Right now, many companies are in the experimental phase, plugging in tools to solve isolated problems and hoping something sticks. Without a direct link to business strategy, AI becomes a series of expensive shiny objects rather than a competitive advantage. To cross the chasm, leadership must align AI implementation with long-term KPIs and operational workflows.
ECLARO Intelligence: “Having a powerful tool like AI without a linked business strategy is like having a high-performance engine without a steering wheel,” Tom Sheridan says. “Real digital transformation requires more than just ‘buying’ AI. It requires baking it into your operational DNA. Strategy must lead the technology, not the other way around.”
Closing the Perception Gap in Upskilling
The Numbers: 56% of leaders believe HR is providing sufficient support, compared to only 42% of workers who feel that way.
The Theme: The Support Disconnect While leadership may feel they’ve checked the training box when it comes to AI, the frontline workforce often feels they are being left to figure things out on the fly. That 14-point gap represents a significant risk to retention and morale, and bridging this gap is going to require more than just one-off webinars and lunch-and-learns. The Right People are looking for a culture of continuous, hands-on learning that generates ongoing improvement and change.
ECLARO Intelligence: “In many organizations there is a significant disconnect between how leaders perceive support and how workers experience it,” Paul Sheridan adds. “HR must move beyond providing tools to providing pathways—and that movement needs to be a true initiative driven from the very top. Success in the AI era belongs to organizations that treat continuous learning as a core business function, not an elective.”
Solving the Talent Shortage
The Numbers: 68% of business leaders struggle with insufficient employee skills to take advantage of AI redesigns.
The Theme: Bridging the Talent Chasm The “Skills Gap” is on the precipice of becoming a “Skills Chasm.” As businesses redesign roles to accommodate AI, they are finding that the existing talent pool lacks the specific, hybrid skills needed to bridge the gap between technical execution and strategic oversight. The solution isn’t just waiting for the market to catch up, however. It’s about finding creative ways to augment your team with specialized talent that can hit the ground running.
ECLARO Intelligence: “The 68% of leaders struggling with skills gaps highlights a pressing challenge,” Tom Sheridan notes. “AI redesigns are moving faster than traditional hiring. This is where strategic staff augmentation becomes vital. You don't just need AI talent, you need specialists who understand how to integrate these redesigns into your specific workflows. And you need the right partner to help you find that talent.”
RELATED: HOW TO EVALUATE TALENT IN THE NEW AI ERA
The “Human-First” AI Outcome
The Numbers: 57% of workers cited increased job satisfaction thanks to AI.
The Theme: Reclaiming the Creative Core AI is showing that it can do exactly what it was meant to do: remove the “robotic” parts of human jobs. By automating tasks such as data entry, scheduling and basic synthesis, by aiding research and the creative process, we are allowing humans to return to what they do best—complex problem-solving and relationship building. That brings more job satisfaction. Higher satisfaction leads to higher retention, supporting the notion that technology, when implemented correctly, actually makes the workplace more human.
ECLARO Intelligence: “Perhaps the most important statistic among all that we’ve been talking about from this survey is the 57% rise in job satisfaction,” Paul Sheridan notes. “Effective, strategic uses of AI mean we are finally freeing people to do the work they were actually hired for—the creative, strategic, high-value work. Here’s an E-Quation for you: the Right People plus the Right AI equals a more engaged and sustainable workforce. Because at the end of the day, no matter how advanced the artificial intelligence becomes, the Right People are the Answer.”