Are executives overestimating workers’ AI readiness?

Most large organisations are investing in AI training without defining what AI competency looks like in specific roles, leaving managers under‑prepared and employees unconvinced their employers are ready for AI‑driven change, according to new research from Acorn.

Over 3 in 4 (77%) executives believe their managers are prepared to guide AI skills development, according to the 2026 State of Learning for AI Fluency Report released by Acorn – based on a survey of 1,224 professionals across C‑suite, director, manager and individual contributor roles at organisations in Canada, the United States and Australia with 1,000 or more employees.

Meanwhile, 91% of employees say their managers are not fully prepared to have meaningful conversations about AI capabilities and development needs.

“What this research makes clear is that there are two workforces experiencing the same AI deployment from fundamentally different positions,” says Blake Proberts, CEO and founder of Acorn. “Managers can’t guide development conversations they have no evidence to anchor on, and without that evidence, employees default to scepticism.”

That happens as 83% of respondents report there is a disparity between what employees in their organisation say about their job capabilities and what they observe them demonstrating in practice. Executives see the most dysfunction, with 31% saying there is a significant difference between what employees report about their job capabilities and what they demonstrate in practice. Managers are less likely to report a difference, with 64% saying they only see a small gap.

Development plans and AI adoption

The Acorn report concludes that development plans are widely used but often ineffective in delivering measurable capability growth. Fifty‑eight per cent of respondents say their organisation’s development plans are somewhat effective, not very effective or not effective at all in improving performance and building capability. Acorn defines capability as a combination of personal and technical skills, knowledge, processes, tools and behaviours critical to an organisation’s success and future needs.

According to the report, 77% of organisations treat training completion as evidence of capability, even though 64% of respondents are not completely confident their company’s approach to measuring learning can show whether employees are getting better at their jobs. Over 8 in 10 (83%) say there is a disparity between what employees report about their job capabilities and what they demonstrate in practice.

Those same weaknesses are now appearing in AI programmes. Over a third (34%) of companies have not defined AI competencies at the role level, 47% have not included AI capability in formal performance reviews, and 30% have no formal mechanism to assess and track AI capability at the individual level. Acorn says as many as 88% of companies may be experiencing a gap between employees’ stated and demonstrated AI capabilities.

“It is clear AI adoption has outpaced enablement,” says Keith Metcalfe, president of Acorn. “We see companies throwing budget at AI without giving their employees the guidance and support required to effectively use it in their roles.”

Are managers prepared?

The Acorn research highlights a sharp disconnect between how executives, managers and employees view manager readiness. On traditional skills, 80% of C‑suite respondents say managers are very prepared to have meaningful conversations about capabilities and what “good” looks like. Three‑quarters (75%) of individual contributors, however, say their managers are only somewhat prepared or not prepared, and 54% of managers agree.

The gap widens for AI. Acorn finds 77% of executives think managers are very prepared to discuss AI capability, but only 34% of managers feel prepared and just 9% of individual contributors agree. Overall, 91% of individual contributors say their managers are not fully prepared for AI capability conversations.

Employee sentiment on AI is also diverging from executive optimism. While 82% of executives say they are excited about AI, 58% of individual contributors describe themselves as slightly sceptical and 28% say they are scared or disillusioned. Nearly 60% of employees lack confidence applying AI in their role.

Among organisations that have introduced AI tools, 58% report employees who are proficient with AI in general but struggle to apply it to the specific requirements of their job. Nearly 6 in 10 (59%) individual contributors say AI has made them only slightly more efficient, with less than 10% improvement.

Looking ahead, 61% of respondents say they are not confident or only somewhat confident their organisation’s current approach will prepare the workforce for AI‑driven role changes over the next three years.

Almost 80% of executives, however, say they are very confident, while 41% of individual contributors say they are not at all confident—a 65‑point gap Acorn links to a lack of clear standards, manager capability and credible measurement.

Effective development plans

According to Acorn, 56% of organisations with effective development plans say success comes from tying plans to measurable role‑level skills.  

1. They define skills at the role level before training:

• Clearly articulate what “good” looks like for each role.

• Design development programs only after targets are set
   

2. They connect skills to business outcomes, not the training catalogue:

• Link what employees are expected to develop to what the business must achieve.

• Measure learning against metrics the organisation already values.
   

3. They equip managers with a framework, not a feeling:

• Give managers and employees shared, defined standards.

• Use the same framework for both traditional and AI‑related capability conversations.
   

4. They measure skills change, not training completion:

• Add a separate measurement layer focused on whether people can now perform key tasks.

• Use capability data to make clearer ROI and more confident promotion decisions.

Here are the top five actions employers and HR teams can take to help workers develop AI capabilities, drawn from recent research by major think tanks and labour‑market analysts.