New research from Jabra reveals a divide in how UK workers are adapting to AI, with just 12% meeting its definition of an AI superuser.
Jabra’s “WorkLife 2026: The New Shape of Work” report demonstrates the importance of combining tool availability with organisational support and new ways of working as employers seek to extend the benefits of AI across their workforce.
Based on responses from 1,000 UK knowledge workers, the research identifies three closely connected factors associated with using AI at work:
• Integration – AI becomes part of everyday work
• Organisational enablement – Employees have capable managers, relevant training and clear expectations, as well as the tools and workflows to support adoption
• Transformation – People adapt how they work, including moving between typing and talking to AI
AI competencies differ across company layers
The research exposes an uneven distribution of AI competency at different levels of an organisation, with many not able to meet each of the three components of AI success.
Amongst C-Suite and executive respondents, 27% qualify as ‘superusers’, compared with 18% of senior managers and directors, 7% of people managers and 1% of individual workers. For employers, this gap raises a question about whether support for new ways of working is reaching people throughout the organisation.
Steen Marquard, North Regional President at Jabra says,
“AI is not a switch that can simply be turned on. Leaders need to bring employees along for the journey, and its success depends on employees having the confidence and skills to use it well. By listening to needs and providing the right support, training and tools, organisations can work productively and maximise the benefits and true value of AI”.
Executive expectations need to be matched by support
Overall, half of UK knowledge workers (51%) say that they have clear KPIs and expectations for how they should use AI in their role. Yet among that group, almost a quarter (24%) have received no AI training or only a brief introductory session. Just 16% receive ongoing or advanced training.
Manager capability is closely linked to how confidently employees adapt to AI.
Across all six markets surveyed in the wider report, daily AI users with a capable manager rate their career optimism higher, compared to those without one (8.3/10 versus 5.5).
Workers who describe their manager as extremely capable are more likely than those that believe the opposite to have received AI training (96% versus 27%), feel their organisation has prepared them for AI (89% versus 7%) and work in redesigned workflows made for AI (73% versus 5%). Yet only half (50%) of workers describe their manager as capable of supporting them with AI.
A lack of sufficient equipment poses another obstacle. Almost a third of respondents (31%) identify at least one hardware barrier to using AI effectively, including audio, video and connectivity. This includes 13% who say a lack of reliable audio hardware, such as headsets and microphones, prevents them from effectively using voice AI applications like meeting transcription.
Voice AI points to a different way of working
Globally, people who regularly talk to AI spend more time making decisions, solving problems, aligning stakeholders and collaborating.
Those who use voice for AI report less stress (24%) and exhaustion (23%) than non-users. This way of working is more common when the right organisational conditions are in place.
Employees who regularly speak to AI are more likely to receive practical training and view their managers as competent sources of support.
The UK’s AI superusers also anticipate substantially more change ahead. Two-thirds (67%) expect considerable change to their role over the next 12 months, compared with 27% for everyone else.
The average UK AI superuser believes that AI could partially or fully perform 64% of their day-to-day work within two years, compared with 42% among other UK respondents. Despite identifying the potential for their day-to-day tasks to be automated, AI superusers are five times more likely to feel secure in their role.
Steen Marquard, North Regional President at Jabra says,
“AI should feel like a natural part of the working day, not something reserved for the most confident users. We all talk to our colleagues, therefore, having conversations with AI is a natural extension of the way we already work. Organisations that make it easy, intuitive and secure for everyone to interact with AI will see the greatest returns on AI investments, closing the gap between superusers and those who are less certain about where to start.”
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