Prudential data reveals a trust gap in AI benefits guidance at work
Eighty-three percent of US employers want to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help employees navigate their benefits. Only 58 percent of employees say they would actually use it.
Prudential Financial's 2026 Benefits & Beyond study, which surveyed 3,096 full-time US employees and 760 employers, puts a precise number on a tension most HR leaders already sense: the technology is ready, but the workforce isn't convinced. And according to Scott Roth, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Prudential Group Insurance in Newark, New Jersey, that reluctance has nothing to do with how the tools work.
"Our research suggests this is less a technology adoption challenge and more a trust challenge," Roth said. "Employees are already using AI in their daily lives and increasingly for financial, health, and benefits-related decisions, but confidence in the technology hasn't kept pace with adoption."
The numbers behind the disconnect
Seventy-eight percent of employers view AI positively, compared to roughly half of employees - a 27-point difference. Only 12 percent of employers say they distrust AI; among employees, that figure is one in four. Privacy and security top the list of employee concerns at 52 percent, edging out accuracy and reliability worries at 49 percent.
Just 24 percent of employees currently use AI for benefits guidance, despite its growing availability across carrier platforms and benefits administration systems. Prudential's 2026 Benefits & Beyond study frames this not as resistance to AI itself but as a confidence deficit and one that employers are not moving fast enough to address.
HR leaders running benefits technology investments without bridging that gap risk spending on capability their workforce actively avoids. Employees who feel disconnected from leadership on AI adoption tend to turn to peers and HR to fill the information vacuum rather than engaging with the tools themselves; a dynamic that complicates rollout even when the platform is well-designed.
"Trust is a shared responsibility," Roth said. "Employers, benefits providers, and technology partners all have a role to play in helping employees understand how AI is being used and how their information is protected. Organizations cannot assume trust will develop automatically."
Union workers are the unexpected early adopters
The study's most striking data point may be this: unionized employees are significantly more likely to use AI for benefits guidance than their salaried counterparts - 40 percent compared to 27 percent.
Roth attributes this to the member-advocacy culture embedded in union environments, where navigating complex benefit structures is a collective exercise and where tools that simplify access tend to get picked up quickly. The pattern suggests the barrier isn't generational or technological, it's cultural. When employees have a framework for understanding their benefits and a community that normalizes using tools to navigate them, AI guidance gets traction.
Sixty-five percent of employees overall say they are comfortable letting employers manage their personal data for benefits purposes, rising to 75 percent among those in technology roles. The openness is there. What's missing, the data implies, is a clear explanation of how that data is used and what it produces.
"Employees are increasingly open to sharing information if it helps them receive more relevant guidance and support," Roth said. "But personalization and trust need to go hand in hand. Employers should ensure employees understand how their data is being used, what protections are in place, and how these tools are intended to help them make more informed decisions."
Building the conditions for adoption
Roth is unequivocal that AI should reduce friction in a complex decision-making process, not replace the human judgment within it. Open enrollment, life events, coverage questions: the aim is more accessible and timely guidance, delivered at the moment employees need it rather than buried in plan documents they won't read.
LIMRA research on AI adoption in employee benefits points to a similar dynamic; uptake accelerates when employees understand the purpose of the tool and feel that the organization has been transparent about how it works. The Prudential data reinforces that: employees aren't waiting to be persuaded that AI is useful in principle. They want to know it's being deployed carefully.
Prudential's approach centers on privacy standards, transparent data use, and what Roth describes as responsible implementation — an approach HR teams are increasingly being asked to own directly. HR is now expected to architect the ethical conditions under which AI operates in the workplace, not simply adopt the tools that land on their desk.
That responsibility extends to benefits AI specifically. The broader pattern of employees using AI tools they don't fully trust - proceeding with adoption while confidence lags - makes consistent, proactive communication from HR more important, not less.
"Benefits decisions are complex and highly personal," Roth said. "Good AI-powered guidance should help employees navigate those decisions with greater confidence, making guidance more accessible, timely, and relevant to their needs."
When asked what the industry needs to get right before AI benefits guidance reaches its potential, Roth's answer is short.
"Trust," he said. "Trust is what transforms AI from a promising technology into a tool employees are willing to rely on for important decisions."
