In a survey of 11 749 workers across 14 markets and a range of industries, 72% of respondents, including white-collar frontline and managerial employees, said AI has already considerably changed skills expectations in their roles, says management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

AI adoption by frontline employees increased to 74% now being regular users, which is up by more than 20 percentage points over the previous two years, the BCG 'AI at Work 2026' report shows.

Further, 67% of regular AI users say it has improved job satisfaction, while 41% of respondents report an increased cognitive load, leading to a situation where AI makes work better and more difficult.

AI is fundamentally reshaping the nature of work, leadership and employee experience, the company says.

Further, Global South markets continue to lead the adoption race for frontline employees. India, the Middle East, Brazil and South Africa all reported levels of regular AI use above the global average and most of Global North markets, with the US, France and Italy lagging behind.

South Africa demonstrates strong, above-average adoption of AI in the workplace, with an estimated 79% of frontline individual white-collar employees using AI regularly, compared with the global average of 74%.

This adoption is translating into tangible productivity gains, with South Africa ranking second among markets surveyed, behind India, in time saved, BCG says.

In South Africa, about 66% of frontline users and 75% of managers and leaders say they are saving at least a full working day per week through the use of AI, which is significantly higher than the global averages of 42% for frontline users and 56% for managers and leaders.

“South Africa is seeing strong adoption of AI in the workplace, with more employees using these tools regularly than the global average,” says research subsidiary BCG X in South Africa MD, partner and lead Dawie Scholtz.

“What stands out is the extent to which this is already translating into real productivity gains, with many employees reporting significant time savings each week. The priority now is to build on this foundation with further investment in skills, and changes to how work is structured so that these early gains can convert into sustained business value,” he says.

South African employees are also reporting positive experiences, with 78% of frontline employees reporting higher levels of job satisfaction, compared to 57% globally, and 84% of managers and leaders, compared to 71% globally.

Further, concern about job displacement remains comparatively low, at around 20% compared to the global average of 36%.

These trends point to a clear opportunity for organisations to build on early adoption by providing clearer strategic direction and ensuring that time saved is reinvested into higher-value work, the company recommends.

Meanwhile, the report also shows that many organisations across countries are struggling to convert AI-driven efficiency gains into measurable value.

While 42% of regular frontline users report saving at least a full workday through use of AI per week, 66% report they get limited or no guidance on what to do with that time and more than half do not redirect it into strategic work.

“The first wave of AI focused on individual productivity. The coming wave will need to transform collective work,” says BCG MD and partner and report co-author Vinciane Beauchene.

“AI is not about replacing work, but is about rethinking the human value-add. This is the role of leaders and the survey reveals a managerial revolution in the age of AI.

“The report shows that 65% of managers and leaders now believe agents will take over at least half of their jobs in the next three years and frontline workers see their jobs evolving towards more managing and directing AI,” she says.

Strategic clarity is the most crucial differentiator in sustaining AI’s impact over time as organisations are moving past simply implementing AI tools in use-case deployment initiatives.

Increasingly, the focus is shifting to redesigning end-to-end workflows and processes, and reimagining functions. Building new business models and products to drive growth is also a focus, and this figure has nearly doubled year-on-year, she says.

This “reshape/reinvent dividend” leads to more value captured and a better employee experience. Clear strategies lift measurable business impacts by 25 percentage points.

In contrast, better tools, without that strategy and redesign, increase this measurable impact by only about five points.

Specifically, respondents in companies pursuing workflow redesign are 24 percentage points more likely to see measurable business improvement, 22 percentage points more likely to save at least a full day per week, and 20 percentage points more likely to report increased job satisfaction, the report shows.

“When the strategy and direction are clear, employees thrive. Business value and employee enjoyment are not trade-offs; the organisations capturing the greatest business value are the same ones where employees enjoy work the most,” says BCG X global leader and report co-author Sylvain Duranton.

Meanwhile, the report also highlights the continued emergence and maturity of AI agents.

In the survey, 30% of respondents say agents are already integrated into workflows, which is more than double the number from the prior year’s report of 13%.

The report shows that 61% respondents says that agents would be able to do at least half their job within three years, but 52% of respondents have only a limited understanding of what agents are.

Governance, including oversight and accountability, still lags far behind the technology, BCG notes.