Two steps forward, one step back: AI technology presents emerging challenge to workplace transformation efforts

AI has an uncanny ability to insert itself into countless HR and workplace news stories, executive and corporate memos, and strategic plans. But the shine of new AI tools drastically improving productivity might be fading as organizations continue grappling with implementations.

While corporate leaders and executives are looking to AI investment as a boon for productivity (ultimately cheaper than a bulky headcount), most companies haven’t found the right formula to actually deliver on AI’s promise, according to a new report from CompTIA released Nov. 4. It’s a moment that’s proven challenging for HR leaders caught in the fray.

According to CompTIA’s “AI’s Impact on Productivity and the Workforce,” 82% of executives expect AI to deliver major business value, but at the exact same time, 79% companies report that they’ve already had to backtrack on AI initiatives because they didn’t live up to the hype.

“Experimentation and the accompanying two steps forward, one step back is a healthy dynamic of AI’s progression in the enterprise,” Tim Herbert, CompTIA’s chief research officer, said in a news release on the findings.

For HR leaders, the whiplash is revealing a more familiar challenge: How do you manage people through transformation as plans, impacts, and expectations rapidly change in real time?

“AI anxiety is real,” behavioral scientist Lily Jampol told Axios in September. “A lot of it is tied up in uncertainty, because things are moving so quickly.”

Jampol told Axios that leaders eliminate jobs, not technology, but many employees fear the decisions their leaders might make when it comes to AI.

AI displacement paradigm. According to the data reviewed by CompTIA, 38% of companies indicate they had taken some type of staffing action directly related to AI, and another 29% say they may take action in 2026. Most companies (64%) confessed to using AI as “cover” for layoffs, cost-cutting measures, or other unpopular business moves, according to the survey. The dueling dynamic of AI-attributed employment decisions and real displacement from the technology continues to batter beleaguered employee morale.

“The findings reaffirm the importance of holistic approaches to AI implementations, from across the tech stack to workflow processes to people skills,” Herbert said.