Across industries, workers are confronting rapid change as ai fluency quietly emerges as a powerful differentiator in pay, promotions, and long-term career security.
Most employees still are not using AI at work
A new study from Google and Ipsos, shared with Fortune, shows that only two in five U.S. workers, or 40%, are even casually using AI in their jobs. Moreover, just 5% qualify as “AI fluent,” meaning they have significantly redesigned or reorganized key parts of their work using the technology.
That small fluent group is seeing outsized rewards. According to the report, these workers are 4.5x more likely to say they earn higher wages and 4x more likely to report a promotion specifically tied to their ability to use AI. However, most employees remain in the early, experimental phase of using these tools.
Among workers who are not using AI at all, the main obstacle is simple disbelief in its relevance. 53% of non-users say they do not think AI applies to the work they do. Adoption also trails off among small businesses, rural employees, and frontline staff—segments that could face the steepest challenge as AI-driven productivity expectations rise.
Training gap widens the divide
While dire predictions of near-term mass job loss have eased, Google’s data highlights another risk: workers being left behind due to inadequate training. Only 14% of employees say their employer offered any AI training in the past 12 months, and just 37% report that their organization provides formal guidance on how to use AI at work.
Fabien Curto Millet, Google‘s chief economist, acknowledged that embedding AI into daily workflows will take time. However, he warned that delay carries strategic costs. “Failing to invest in training means running the risk of losing ground to competitors who are already reaping these rewards,” Curto Millet told Fortune.
He added that employers should consider what happens when rivals are the first to achieve a meaningful jump in quality and efficiency through AI. That said, many organizations are still working out basic policies and ai workforce training strategies, leaving employees to experiment on their own or avoid the tools altogether.
The race to build competitive AI skills
The findings come more than three years after the arrival of ChatGPT and a wave of generative AI products, including Claude, Gemini, and Copilot. In that period, corporate pressure to boost productivity has only intensified, pushing many leaders to see AI proficiency as a core requirement rather than a nice-to-have skill.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has urged employees to accelerate their use of AI, arguing that the current transition demands moving faster than in past tech cycles. He contrasted earlier eras of “extraordinary investment,” when companies responded by adding large numbers of staff, with today’s environment, where leaders expect technology itself to carry more of the load.
“In this AI moment, I think we have to accomplish more by taking advantage of this transition to drive higher productivity,” Pichai said. Moreover, the new expectations are reshaping what advancement looks like inside large organizations, as those comfortable with AI tools increasingly stand out.
Google bets on structured AI education
To close the skills gap, Google is rolling out a new Google AI Professional Certificate, an eight-hour program designed to teach practical applications of AI for research, content creation, and data analysis. The certificate aims to give workers repeatable workflows rather than one-off tricks.
Major employers, including Walmart, Colgate-Palmolive, and Deloitte, plan to offer the credential at no cost to their employees. That move signals that large companies increasingly view AI as a core competency across functions, not just a specialist skill clustered in IT or data science teams.
Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, told Fortune the retailer sees AI as a force that changes how work gets done, not as a tool for sidelining employees. “We all have to change. That’s an ongoing need, but we all have the opportunity to lean into what that new future is,” she said, emphasizing that the company wants its staff to grow with the technology.
Rethinking the future of work, not replacing humans
Morris expects AI to reshape roles and spawn new opportunities rather than simply erase jobs. “I think new jobs will be created. I think new businesses will be created. I think the way we will do things will change,” she said. However, she stressed that does not mean humans will be abandoned by employers or made obsolete.
Curto Millet echoed that view, arguing that ai impact on careers will be determined largely by how quickly workers and organizations adapt. In his view, the most successful companies will be those that blend human judgment and creativity with systematic use of AI to remove tedious tasks and free up time for higher-value work.
For now, the study suggests that ai fluency is still concentrated among a relatively small share of employees, creating an advantage for those who choose to experiment early. As more organizations embed AI into performance expectations, the gap between fluent users and non-users could widen.
How Gen Z can turn AI into an advantage
For young people navigating an uncertain job market—and an education system that is still catching up to employer needs—Curto Millet’s advice is direct: learn AI aggressively, but never treat it as a substitute for human judgment. Historically, he noted, younger workers have often gained the most from major technological shifts.
“I encourage young people to gain experience and accumulate judgment as fast as they can—leaning into human skills that will remain invaluable going forward,” he said. Moreover, Gen Z often starts with an edge as a tech-native generation, comfortable experimenting with new tools.
Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, said younger workers should not neglect core abilities like critical thinking, empathy, and strategic decision-making as they build technical skills. The aim, he argued, is not to compete with AI but to use it as a “force multiplier” that amplifies human strengths.
Using AI to do higher-value work
Sigelman cautioned that superficially impressive uses of AI may not translate into real workplace impact. “While being able to vibe code some new spreadsheet tracker app is interesting and a good skills-building exercise, it’s unlikely to help you do your job bigger and better,” he told Fortune.
Instead, he argued, the most valuable ai skills for workers involve using the technology to generate new ideas, prototype concepts quickly, and automate routine tasks. That way, employees can redirect time and attention toward higher-value activities that matter more to employers, such as strategy, relationship-building, and complex problem-solving.
Even as some companies streamline or reduce entry-level roles, Curto Millet said leaders should not overlook what early-career hires can uniquely contribute. In his experience, younger workers often bring a deeper, more intuitive understanding of emerging AI tools than senior colleagues.
Reverse mentorship and the next generation of talent
Curto Millet said he is consistently struck by how well-versed many young people are in AI, from generative chatbots to image and code assistants. Organizations that recognize and harness that fluency, he argued, can accelerate their own AI learning curve across teams and functions.
He suggested that companies lean into “reverse mentorship,” where younger, AI-savvy employees help upskill more experienced staff in the most cutting-edge ways to use these tools. Moreover, pairing early talent with senior leaders can ensure that experimentation is grounded in business context, governance, and ethical standards.
As AI continues to spread through everyday workflows, the report implies that those who invest time in building structured skills now will be best positioned. The combination of technical know-how, human judgment, and a willingness to keep learning may prove the most durable career asset in an AI-supported workforce.
In summary, Google’s research indicates that AI proficiency is already reshaping wages, promotions, and opportunities, while uneven access to training risks leaving many workers behind as the technology becomes embedded in how modern organizations operate.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2026/02/19/ai-fluency-workplace/
