New data highlights the pivotal shift from AI experimentation to deployment in federal operations—and what’s needed to spur deeper adoption.
Matthew T. Cornelius
Managing Director for Federal Industry
Workday
As recently as a year ago, policymakers, industry leaders, and senior government officials were all warning that AI would dramatically reshape the workforce, potentially wiping out millions of jobs. According to a recent survey of 200 federal agency leaders across both defense and civilian agencies, conducted by Workday Government and GovExec, only 20% of respondents believe AI is or will lead to headcount reductions.
When you speak to the actual employees who are acquiring, testing, using, and managing the continuous wave of new agentic capabilities, you discover a workforce that doesn’t fear AI—they are embracing it. In fact, 96% say they have incorporated AI into their workflows, and 42% indicate AI is having a positive impact on their work.
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42% indicate AI is having a positive impact on their work.
The data suggests teams are safely embedding AI into their daily workflows to speed the accuracy and effectiveness of their regular duties. More than a quarter (27%) of respondents say AI is allowing federal employees to spend more time on higher value, more strategic work rather than rote administrative tasks.
“Our research indicates federal employees see the promise of AI and continue to be both cautious and curious about how AI will impact their jobs and, more importantly, deliver more effective and efficient outcomes to our fellow Americans,” said Cliff Purkey, VP of Federal Product and Compliance Management at Workday Government. “This mirrors the deep conversations we have with our customers who want to safely and confidently adopt AI capabilities that will revolutionize their HR, finance and payroll capabilities, while improving the employee experience.”
“Federal employees see the promise of AI and continue to be both cautious and curious.”Cliff Purkey
Workday Government
While AI adoption is rather broad across most civilian and defense agencies, current uptake is shallow. An overwhelming 85% of respondents indicate that potential security vulnerabilities are a concern for AI expansion, while others worry about potential bias or discrimination in AI outputs. Clearly, agency employees need greater assurances about the provenance of data, data governance, and how agents are using the appropriate context as part of their workflows.
“AI adoption only accelerates through trust,” added Purkey. “That means leaders and employees must share a common understanding of why AI is being inserted into their agency’s business processes, the accuracy and authenticity of the data agents will use to make decisions, and the right policies to ensure that human oversight is embedded in all critical workflows.”
Agencies continue to experiment with measures to increase trust and transparency in their AI adoption. Overall, 3 out of 5 respondents report that humans review some or most of their agentic workflows and outputs in their organizations.
Interestingly, nearly two thirds of respondents, representing large majorities in both civilian and defense agencies, indicate that executive leadership has the greatest influence over how agentic AI is deployed. With a foundation of trust, leaders are well positioned to make a significant leap in how they embed and embrace AI moving forward.
Nearly two thirds say executive leadership has the greatest influence over how agentic AI is deployed.
Market Connections deployed a 9-question poll to a random sample of 200 federal civilian and defense IT employees. The poll was fielded in June 2026.
Workday Government is the enterprise AI platform for managing people, finance, and agents. Workday Government unifies HR and finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower public sector organizations at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver on their missions. For more information, including open roles where you can support our Federal agency customers, visit workday.com/federal.
As GovExec’s research division, Market Connections is dedicated to advancing the business of government through analysis, insight, and analytical independence. An extension of Government Executive’s 50 years of exemplary editorial standards and commitment to the highest ethical values, Market Connections studies influential decision makers from across government to produce intelligence-based research and analysis.
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