Workday’s AI@Work data reveals rising trust in AI, but continued caution around autonomous agents.
Michelle Dawkins
Vice President for Solution Consulting, UKI & EMEA
Workday
When we launched our first AI@Work pulse last month, one headline stood out: UK workers are leaning into artificial intelligence with notable enthusiasm.
A month on, our September surveyed nearly 6,000 global employees (including 1000 here in the UK) shows that momentum isn't slowing down—it’s accelerating. But as adoption deepens, the picture is becoming far more nuanced.
Confidence is Surging and Stigma is Fading
UK workers continue to stand out as some of the most confident AI users in the world. The UK’s AI + Work Experience Sentiment score is now +51, up from +49 last month.
To put that in context, our European neighbours remain far more reserved: France and Germany posted lower AI + Work Experience Sentiment scores of +28 and +34, respectively. Globally, only Australia sits marginally ahead of the UK, while the wider global average trails at +43.
What’s driving this shift? UK adoption climbed nearly five percentage points this month to 80%, comfortably ahead of the global average (77%). More importantly, the old stigma around using smart tools is falling away. Almost a third of UK employees (29%) say using AI is openly encouraged as a smart way to work, topping the global average of 26%.
And perhaps most encouraging: a mere 6% worry colleagues will view AI use as "cutting corners" or lazy, the lowest proportion in any market we surveyed.
We are finally moving past the era where employees feel they need to apologise for using smart technology to get work done.
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Eager Collaborators, Hesitant Delegators
Yet, underneath this growing confidence lies a compelling tension. While UK workers are eager to use AI as an everyday collaborator, they remain hesitant to hand over control.
When it comes to delegating full tasks to AI, 67% of UK AI users say they have done so at least once. That means a full third of UK AI users have not yet delegated a full task to AI, leaving the UK lagging behind peers in France (75%), Germany (72%), and the US (72%).
The Enablement Gap
This reticence isn’t driven by cynicism. In fact, trust in employers to deploy AI in ways that benefit workers actually increased by nearly four percentage points this month to 49%, outpacing the global average of 45%.
Instead, the friction comes down to basic enablement. More than one in five UK workers (22%) say they have not received workplace AI training. Furthermore, only just over half (53%) have had a direct conversation with their manager in the past month about how AI is reshaping their role, falling short of the global average (56%).
If we want people to graduate from basic prompting to high-impact delegation with autonomous systems, we cannot expect them to navigate that leap on their own.
Leaders have a clear opportunity here: set practical guardrails, invest in tangible training, and foster honest, regular conversations about where autonomous agents can run solo and where human judgement remains irreplaceable.
Breadth of adoption is already here; equipping people with the fluency and confidence to use AI deeply is what will unlock genuine productivity and growth.
1. Accelerating AI adoption
Workplace adoption in the UK rose nearly five percentage points, climbing from 75% in August to 80% (79.9%) in September. This keeps the UK ahead of the global average (77.5%) and confirms that AI has transitioned from an experimental novelty into an everyday workplace fixture.
2. A standout positive work experience
UK employees continue to report a far more positive relationship with AI than their international peers. The proportion citing a positive impact rose from 49% to 51% month-on-month—sitting eight percentage points clear of the global average (43%) and highlighting that everyday tools are delivering tangible relief on the ground.
3. Growing trust in employers’ use of AI
Employee trust in leadership is heading in the right direction. The proportion of UK workers who trust their employer to deploy AI in ways that benefit the workforce rose by nearly four percentage points to 49% (up from 45% in August, against a 45% global benchmark). When organisations communicate thoughtfully, confidence follows.
Not enough for you? No problem, here’s everything that we’re tracking month over month. Come back in November for new AI@Work insights and trends.
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