NEW YORK—Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a standard workplace tool as employers see measurable productivity gains, according to new research from PYMNTS Intelligence. Most companies now encourage AI use rather than simply permitting it, even as they race to put governance policies in place to manage growing reliance on the technology.
About 70% of workers who use AI on the job say their employer encourages its use, while fewer than 10% say AI is actively discouraged, PYMNTS reported. The findings suggest the internal debate has largely shifted from whether AI belongs in the workplace to how organizations should control and oversee its use.
The PYMNTS survey of 2,113 U.S. adults, conducted Oct. 14–29, found that 68% of AI-using workers describe their employer as supportive, 25% say their workplace is neutral, and less than 7% report discouragement. Encouragement is strongest among mid-career employees, but spans every generation.
Nearly 80% of bridge Millennials and about three-quarters of Millennials report employer support for AI, while roughly 70% of Gen X workers say the same. Even among Baby Boomers and seniors, about half say their workplace encourages AI use. Across all age groups, outright bans remain rare, topping out at just 9% among Gen Z, according to PYMNTS.
From Pilots To Embedded Workflows
The trend mirrors broader enterprise adoption patterns tracked by PYMNTS, as large organizations move beyond limited pilots and embed AI directly into daily workflows. PYMNTS noted that institutions such as Citi have deployed agentic AI platforms to streamline internal processes, signaling a shift toward structured, supervised adoption rather than informal experimentation.
For financial institutions, the emphasis is increasingly on capturing efficiency gains while maintaining oversight, particularly as AI touches compliance, operations, and customer-facing functions.
Governance Catches Up—But Gaps Remain
As AI use expands, governance frameworks are emerging, though unevenly. More than 80% of workers at organizations that allow AI say their employer has at least one policy governing its use, PYMNTS found. Still, 17% report no formal AI policies at all.
The most common rules focus on risk management. More than half of respondents say their employer specifies which AI tools are approved for use, and roughly half report formal data-security policies limiting what information can be shared with AI systems. These guardrails reflect growing concerns around confidentiality, accuracy, and regulatory exposure.
More advanced governance structures are less common. Only about 30% of workplaces have policies covering approvals, disclosures, or quality monitoring, highlighting a lag between adoption and mature oversight frameworks, PYMNTS said.
Productivity Gains Drive Dependence
PYMNTS found that AI is increasingly viewed as a productivity accelerator rather than a replacement for workers. Nearly half of employees across generations say they could do their jobs without AI, but it would take significantly longer.
Dependence is higher among younger workers and heavy users. About one-third of Gen Z workers say they could not do their job or would find it significantly harder without AI. Among frequent users, more than one in three report similar reliance.
Those perceptions align with productivity data previously reported by PYMNTS, showing enterprise workers save 40 to 60 minutes per day using AI, with roles in data science, engineering, and communications seeing gains of 60 to 80 minutes per active day.