Workers are adopting AI technology faster than many of their leaders realize. This finding is one of several highlighted in McKinsey’s latest report, Superagency in the Workplace. All this week, our data visualizations will focus on themes from this report, such as employee enthusiasm for AI and the technology’s economic potential. For more, see the report.
A McKinsey survey finds that millennials are the most active generation of gen AI users. Some 62 percent of employees aged 35 to 44 report high levels of expertise, compared with 50 percent of 18- to 24-year-old Gen Zers and 22 percent of baby boomers over 65. Many millennials in this age group are managers and can help their teams become more skilled AI users, Senior Partner Lareina Yee and coauthors point out.
Image description:
A grid of area square charts displays the results of a survey concerning US employee sentiment on gen AI across different age groups. Each row represents a different aspect of employee sentiment and each column represents a different age group (18–24, 25–34, 35–44, 45–54, 55–64, and 65+). The first row assesses if respondents think they have extensive familiarity with gen AI, with the 35–44 age group showing the highest percentage at 62%, followed by the 18–24 group at 50%. The lowest familiarity is found in the 65+ group (22%) and the 55–64 group (26%). The second row assesses if respondents think they are comfortable using gen AI at work. Here, the 35–44 age group exhibits the highest comfort level at 90%, while the 55–64 group reports the lowest at 70%.
The third row assesses if respondents provide feedback on gen AI tools, revealing relatively consistent feedback across age groups, ranging from 47% (55–64) to 77% (25–34). The final row assesses if respondents want to participate in the design of gen AI tools. The percentages are fairly even across age groups, ranging from 70% (18–24) to 81% (35–44). The other age groups are within the range of 73–77%.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: McKinsey US employee survey, Oct–Nov 2024 (n = 3,002).
End of image description.
To read the report, see “Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential,” January 28, 2025.