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Good morning. AI agents are promoted as the future of work, but while employees adapt to the idea, most aren’t comfortable reporting to a digital boss.
More than 80% of organizations are expanding their use of AI agents, according to a new report by Fortune 500 company Workday (a CFO Daily sponsor). Although 75% of workers are comfortable collaborating with AI agents, only 30% are comfortable being managed by one. The research finds that employees are happy to use AI agents as tools, but don’t view them as decision makers to whom they must answer.
Nearly half (48%) of respondents are concerned that AI agents will increase pressure on employees to work faster. The findings are based on a survey of 2,950 full-time decision makers and software implementation leaders across North America, APAC, and EMEA.
Trust appears to be the elephant in the room. More than 25% of respondents believe AI agents are overhyped.
“Building trust means being intentional in how AI is used and keeping people at the center of every decision,” according to Kathy Pham, vice president of AI at Workday.
The research found that trust in agents rises with greater use: only 36% of those just exploring AI agents trust their organizations to use them responsibly, compared with 95% among those further along the adoption curve.
Workday’s report highlights the importance of keeping human accountability at the center of AI decision-making. At the Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore conference last month, Sapna Chadha, VP for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier at Google, advised that agentic platforms must clearly communicate actions and request user approval at key decision points.
“You wouldn’t want to have a system that can do this fully without a human in the loop,” Chadha said.
Workday’s research also revealed that, with the industry facing a shortage of CPAs and finance professionals, 76% of finance workers believe AI agents will help fill the gap, and only 12% are worried about job loss. Top uses for AI agents in finance include forecasting and budgeting (32%), financial reporting (32%), and fraud detection (30%). Gen Z is especially bullish—70% are interested in working for companies that invest in AI agents.
The report recommends the following for leaders: refine performance through human ingenuity, prioritize tools and training, and design roles that unlock purpose—not just productivity.
Will employees ever be comfortable calling an AI agent their boss? In my opinion, when it comes to AI, never say never.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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