Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
- Global employee engagement has dropped to 21%, costing $438B in lost productivity despite AI advancements.
- AI offers potential to enhance work, but without strong leadership and culture, it risks deepening workplace disconnection.
- Trust, recognition, and human connection remain key to performance — technology must support, not replace, these fundamentals.
Artificial intelligence has stepped into the spotlight as a force reshaping how we work, lead, and connect. Touted as both savior and disruptor, AI promises to redefine productivity, but its real impact depends less on what it can do and more on how we choose to use it.
Yet despite the promise of a tool that could help make workers more productive with little training required, workplace engagement is falling. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, global employee engagement dropped two points to 21% — costing the world economy a staggering $438 billion in lost productivity.
Technology might be advancing, but the people using it are not thriving.
The Disengagement Dilemma
The conversation around AI and digital transformation often centers on efficiency. Leaders invest in new platforms and tools hoping to streamline operations, reduce overhead, and gain a competitive edge. But Gallup’s report suggests that while digital tools are becoming more sophisticated, the human experience at work is deteriorating.
Only 33% of employees globally say they are thriving in their lives overall, and among managers (a group critical to team morale and productivity) engagement has dropped from 30% to an even lower 27%. Female managers and younger leaders reported the steepest declines, revealing that even those responsible for guiding others are struggling to stay afloat themselves.
This drop in engagement is a system-wide signal that something deeper is broken. Employees are exhausted from long hours or unrealistic demands, as well as disconnected from their teams, from purpose, and from recognition.
AI Is the Disruptor and the Opportunity
Gallup frames AI as both a disruptor and an opportunity, and that dual role is critical to understand. On one hand, AI threatens to dehumanize the workplace if implemented as a cold cost-cutting mechanism.Â
On the other, it has the potential to enhance human work, allowing people to focus on creativity, connection, and strategic thinking.
This is a pivotal moment. How leaders choose to implement AI will determine whether it becomes a tool for alienation or empowerment.
Used thoughtfully, AI can reduce administrative burdens, giving managers more time to coach, mentor, and support their teams. It can reveal trends in employee sentiment, flag burnout before it leads to turnover, and facilitate personalized development plans.Â
But this requires more than investment in technology — it requires investment in leadership capability and cultural transformation.
Technology Cannot Replace Trust
What truly drives performance is the timeless fundamentals of good work culture: trust, recognition, and human connection. Gallup has consistently found that employees who have a best friend at work are more engaged.Â
Trust in leadership, meaningful recognition, and clear communication all correlate with higher productivity and retention.
AI cannot replace these dynamics. It can support them, but it cannot generate them. That responsibility lies with leadership.
Unfortunately, too many organizations still treat employee experience as a secondary concern, something to be addressed after the quarterly targets are hit. This approach is not only short-sighted, but it is actively harming the bottom line.Â
Engaged teams produce better outcomes, and disengaged ones quietly erode productivity from the inside out.
A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity (If We Get It Right)
There is good news: Gallup estimates that if the global workforce were fully engaged, it could unlock $9.6 trillion in productivity. That would be equivalent to a 9% increase in global GDP. Some organizations are already seeing the benefits of prioritizing engagement, with stronger financial performance, lower turnover, and higher levels of innovation.
But to scale that success, the conversation around AI might need to change. Leaders should stop asking what AI can replace and start asking what it can enhance. They must alter the narrative from cost reduction to culture elevation, and recognize that the real transformation is not digital, but human.
A Call to Reframe
The future of work will be shaped not by the sophistication of our tools, but by the values of the people who wield them. AI presents a rare opportunity to reimagine work to make it more meaningful, more sustainable, and more human.Â
If we get it right, AI could help create a workplace that actually works for people.
