Employers Encourage AI at Work, With or Without Guardrails

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a default tool at work because it is delivering measurable productivity gains. New PYMNTS Intelligence survey data shows most employers now encourage AI use rather than merely allowing it, while only a small minority discourage it. At the same time, companies are racing to put policies in place to govern how AI tools, data and workflows are used as reliance on the technology deepens.

Roughly 7 in 10 workers who use AI for their jobs say their workplace encourages its use, while fewer than 1 in 10 say their employer actively discourages it. The findings suggest the debate inside companies is no longer whether AI belongs at work, but how to manage it as reliance grows.

From Permission to Promotion

The data is based on a survey of 2,113 U.S. adult consumers conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 29, and finds that 68% of AI-using workers say their workplace encourages AI, compared with 25% who describe their employer as neutral and less than 7% who say AI use is discouraged. That encouragement spans generations, though it is strongest among mid-career employees.

Nearly 8 in 10 bridge millennials and almost 3 in 4 millennials report employer encouragement, while about 7 in 10 Gen X workers say the same. Even among baby boomers and seniors, roughly 1 in 2 say their workplace supports AI use.

The low rate of discouragement stands out. Across every generation, fewer than 1 in 10 workers say their employer discourages AI use, topping out at 9% among Gen Z. That pattern highlights how rare outright bans have become as companies confront the productivity benefits employees are already realizing.

This shift mirrors trends PYMNTS has reported across large enterprises. Citi’s recent deployment of an agentic AI platform to streamline internal workflows reflects how major institutions are moving past pilot projects and embedding AI directly into day-to-day operations. Rather than leaving AI to informal use, organizations are designing systems that encourage adoption while maintaining oversight.

Governance Policies

As AI use becomes normalized, governance is catching up. Among respondents whose organizations allow AI at work, more than 8 in 10 report having at least one policy governing how AI can be used. Only 17%, or fewer than 1 in 5 workplaces, say they have no specific AI policies.

The most common rules focus on practical risk management. More than 1 in 2 workers say their employer has policies specifying which AI tools are approved, while roughly 1 in 2 report formal data and security rules that limit what information can be shared with AI systems. These policies reflect concerns around confidentiality, accuracy and regulatory exposure as AI tools proliferate.

More formal governance structures remain less widespread. About 3 in 10 workplaces report having governance policies that address approvals, disclosures or quality monitoring. The gap highlights how policy maturity still lags adoption, even as AI becomes more embedded in everyday work.

AI Gets Harder to Work Without

The strongest signal of AI’s impact emerges when workers are asked how they would perform without it. Across generations, the most common response is not that work would stop, but that it would slow down.

Nearly half of workers across multiple cohorts say they could still do their job without AI, but it would take longer. This framing positions AI primarily as a productivity accelerator rather than a replacement for human labor.

At the same time, reliance is growing among younger and heavier users. Roughly 1 in 3 Gen Z workers say they could not do their job or that it would be significantly harder without AI. Specifically, 14% of Gen Z say they could not do their job without AI, while 20% say their job would be significantly harder. Among power users, more than 1 in 3 report similar levels of dependence.

Those perceptions align with productivity data from OpenAI previously reported by PYMNTS. Enterprise workers attribute 40 to 60 minutes of daily time savings to AI use, with data science, engineering and communications roles reporting the largest gains at 60 to 80 minutes per active day.