Artificial intelligence has infiltrated offices worldwide, promising a seismic shift in how work gets done. McKinsey’s January 2025 report, Superagency in the Workplace, frames this era as a ‘cognitive industrial revolution,’ drawing parallels to the steam engine’s transformative power. Prompted by Reid Hoffman’s book of the same name, the analysis reveals employees racing ahead of executives in AI adoption, with workers three times more likely than leaders anticipate to use generative AI for at least 30% of their daily tasks.

The report, based on surveys of 3,613 employees and 238 C-suite leaders primarily in the U.S., identifies ‘superagency’—a state where AI amplifies human creativity and productivity. ‘Achieving AI superagency in the workplace is not simply about mastering technology. It is every bit as much about supporting people, creating processes, and managing governance,’ the authors state. Yet, 47% of executives cite slow tool development due to skill gaps, while 59% of the workforce—labeled ‘Zoomers and Bloomers’—embraces AI optimism.

Employee Enthusiasm Outpaces Executive Caution

Workers aged 35-44 lead as informal ‘AI help desks,’ with high familiarity even among skeptics called ‘Gloomers.’ Over a quarter of all segments plan increased usage next year. McKinsey’s later November 2025 State of AI survey of 1,993 participants across 105 nations confirms 88% of organizations use AI in at least one function, up from prior years, though scaling lags: no more than 10% deploy AI agents per function.

High performers integrate AI across marketing, sales, strategy, and product development, reporting revenue gains. ‘AI high performers are also regularly using AI in more business functions than their peers,’ the report notes. Revenue boosts appear most in these areas, consistent with historical patterns. On X, investor Aadit Sheth highlighted: ‘88% of companies now use AI somewhere. Only 33% have scaled it beyond pilots.’

Gallup’s Q3 2025 data shows 37% of U.S. employees report organizational AI implementation for productivity, with 45% using it occasionally, though daily use hovers at 10%. Regions like India and the UK show stronger managerial encouragement than the U.S.

Productivity Gains Emerge Amid Scaling Hurdles

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis research estimates generative AI users save 5.4% of work hours weekly, implying a 1.1% workforce-wide productivity lift. By August 2025, work hours using gen AI rose to 5.7% from 4.1% in late 2024. McKinsey projects $4.4 trillion in annual productivity from corporate use cases, with agents evolving into ‘virtual coworkers’ capable of autonomous planning.

PwC’s 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, analyzing a billion job ads, links AI exposure to fourfold productivity growth and 56% wage premiums, even in automatable roles. ‘AI is making workers more valuable, productive, and able to command higher wage premiums,’ PwC states. Sectors like software see 56% faster coding via tools like GitHub Copilot.

Yet challenges persist: 51% report AI inaccuracies, and 70-85% of projects fail to deliver. BCG’s AI at Work survey notes frontline workers hit a ‘silicon ceiling,’ with only half using AI regularly.

Leadership Gaps Fuel Bottom-Up Adoption

C-suite leaders overestimate employee resistance; McKinsey finds executives twice as likely to blame readiness over their own governance. Only 1% of firms claim AI maturity despite 92% planning investment hikes. ‘The biggest barrier to scaling is not employees—who are ready to incorporate AI into their jobs—but leaders, who are not steering fast enough,’ per McKinsey’s analysis.

InnoLead echoes: Employees move faster than leaders expect. X posts from Greg Isenberg note 90% ‘use AI’ but 67% stuck in pilots, dubbing it ‘corporate AI theater.’ High performers rebuild workflows for growth, not just efficiency.

World Economic Forum predicts 2025 as the year of functional disruption, with 88% of executives prioritizing speed. LinkedIn data shows 51% of AI-adopting SMBs gained 10%+ revenue.

Skills Demand Surges as Agents Rise

AI fluency demand jumped sevenfold to 7 million U.S. jobs by mid-2025, per McKinsey. Rohan Paul on X: ‘Job roles tied to “AI fluency” went from 1 mn in 2023 to 7 mn in 2025 (a 7X jump).’ Automation potential hits 57% of U.S. hours, but human skills overlap 70% with automatable work, suggesting partnerships over displacement.

McKinsey’s ‘Agents, Robots, and Us’ warns of $2.9 trillion U.S. value by 2030, with new roles in data centers and healthcare. Fortune reports: Current tech could automate 57%, but affordability and safety lag for mass adoption.

Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute tracks global diffusion at one in six people by late 2025, led by UAE at 64%.

Governance and Risks Define Next Phase

Regulation looms as a hurdle, yet opportunity. McKinsey urges ‘Rewired’ frameworks: roadmaps, talent, operations. Ethics in Review critiques superagency as needing equitable deployment, not just client advantages.

ADP Research finds daily AI users most engaged but report weaker coworker ties and perceived lower productivity, stressing human connections. HBR warns of ‘workslop’—polished but substanceless AI output—eroding ROI.

Investors eye 2026 labor shifts; TechCrunch quotes: ‘AI will start to surpass just being a tool… automating work itself.’

Path Forward: Bold Commitments Required

Leaders must set outcome-focused goals, train inclusively, and govern proactively. McKinsey: Focus on 170 million new jobs over 92 million displaced. PwC urges adaptation to AI’s pace for value creation. As Hoffman envisions, superagency awaits those aligning people and machines effectively.