Leading Through AI: Closing the Readiness Gap

Closing the AI readiness gap

Are we walking our talk on AI?

AI is everywhere. Boards are approving bigger budgets, headlines celebrate new tools, and everyone wants to be “AI driven.”

But here’s the truth: only 1% of executives describe their generative-AI rollouts as mature [1].

That gap between investment and readiness is not a technology issue. It is a leadership issue. And while leaders hesitate, employees are already moving ahead.

Your people are ready. Are you?

Employees are not waiting for a green light. In a McKinsey survey reported by Investopedia, workers were three times more likely than executives to say generative AI already handles more than 30% of their daily tasks [2]. Nearly half of U.S. workers even pay for AI tools out of their own pocket [2].

At the same time, a Fortune report found 48.8% of employees and 53.4% of C-suite leaders admit they hide their AI use [3]. The appetite is there, but so is the anxiety.

And according to the ADP Research Institute, 85% of workers believe AI will affect their job in the near future, with nearly half saying it will help them [4].

Think about your own team. Do they feel like they have to keep their learning underground, or are you giving them a safe way to explore?

Why leaders hesitate

If employees are this ready, what is holding leaders back? Three blockers show up again and again:

• No clear strategy. Buying tools without a vision is like building a house without a blueprint. Pilots flounder, budgets get wasted, and confidence erodes.

• Skill gaps at the top. Many leaders have not built hands-on confidence with AI. Delegating to technical teams is not enough. You cannot model collaboration with AI if you have never tried it yourself.

• Risk aversion and secrecy. Fear of mistakes, security issues, or ethical missteps can lead to silence. Secrecy does not reduce risk. Responsible guidance does [3].

If you have felt some of this hesitation, you are not alone. But staying stuck has a cost.

What is possible when you embrace AI?

Here’s the thing: when leaders embrace AI with intention, it does not just make work faster. It makes work better.

• Productivity rises. Mundane tasks shrink, freeing you and your team to focus on strategy.

• Engagement grows. People feel valued when they can multiply their impact with the right tools.

• Decisions improve. Leaders see trends more clearly with AI-surfaced insights.

• Leadership strengthens. Those who explore AI first become mentors for their teams.

• Stress decreases. Clear guardrails reduce fear and confusion.

I have seen this in practice. Leaders I worked with invited managers to experiment with AI tools and trained them to automate everyday tasks. That simple step built efficiency and eased tension. Some older managers admitted they worried AI made them look like they were “cheating” because it was not the hard way they had learned. But once leadership framed it as learning together, hesitation gave way to curiosity.

Think about your own team. What could shift if you gave them that same invitation?

How to close the gap

You do not need to be a coder to lead through AI. You just need clarity and a willingness to learn. Start here:

1. Define your roadmap. Identify where AI can have the most impact: customer service, marketing, talent acquisition, reporting. Set clear goals: faster onboarding, higher client satisfaction, reduced turnaround time.

2. Upskill yourself first. Take a short course, attend a workshop, or try a generative tool to summarize an article or draft an email. Once you have wrestled with the learning curve yourself, you will lead with empathy.

3. Create collaboration protocols. Spell out when and how AI outputs should be reviewed. Encourage your team to question results, add context, and make the final call. This keeps human judgment at the center.

4. Treat adoption as a journey. Pilot, learn, adjust, repeat. Celebrate wins. Share what did not work. Build a culture where curiosity is rewarded.

5. Balance innovation with ethics. Work with legal and data-security partners to set visible guardrails. When people know what is safe, they feel free to experiment responsibly.

Let’s lead the way

AI is already in your organization. The choice is whether to ignore it or to harness it. By setting a clear direction, investing in your own growth, and creating space for experimentation, you can turn anxiety into opportunity.

I have also seen the benefits of AI in one of the toughest parts of leadership: responding to critical feedback. In one instance, we received an evaluation that did not reflect the full picture of the work. The language was frustrating and could easily have escalated emotions. Using one of my AI companions, I was able to turn the raw details into a clear, fact-based response. It kept the tone professional, avoided confrontation, and laid out the context fairly. The result was not just a stronger document. It gave me clarity, lowered the stress of the moment, and ensured our voice came through with confidence.

That is what embracing AI can mean for leaders.

There is purpose in the discomfort if you lean into it.

So ask yourself: Am I willing to lead through this change? Your team is ready. Let us close the readiness gap together.

Sources

[1] MissionCloud, AI Statistics 2025: Key Market Data and Trends.https://www.missioncloud.com/blog/ai-statistics-2025-key-market-data-and-trends

[2] Investopedia, This Generation Is Secretly Using AI at Work Every Day – And Not Telling Their Bosses.https://www.investopedia.com/this-generation-is-secretly-using-ai-at-work-every-day-and-not-telling-their-bosses-11785140

[3] Fortune, “‘AI shame’ is running rampant in the corporate sector—and C-suite leaders are most worried about getting caught,” WalkMe survey coverage. https://fortune.com/2025/08/29/what-is-ai-shame-readiness-gap-training-artificial-intelligence/

Keywords: artificial intelligence, leadership, readiness gap, workforce development, AI adoption, generative AI, upskilling, organizational change