Managing in the Age of AI

Organizations have spent the past several years asking how artificial intelligence will change work. While that remains an important question, another has become increasingly relevant: How is AI changing what it means to be a manager?

The role of managers has been evolving for years. Long before generative AI entered the workplace, managers were expected to do far more than oversee performance. They became coaches, career advisors, change leaders, and champions of employee well-being. Today, those responsibilities continue to expand as organizations navigate continuous transformation, evolving workforce expectations, and rapid advances in technology.

AI has accelerated this evolution. Rather than replacing managers, it is changing the conversations they have with their teams. Employees increasingly look to managers to understand how work is changing, which skills will matter in the future, and how they can remain successful as new technologies become part of everyday work. Success is becoming less about directing work and more about helping people adapt to continuous change.

Viewed together, these findings suggest that organizations have made meaningful progress introducing AI, but many employees are still looking for guidance. They want to understand how AI will affect their work, what new expectations are emerging, and how they can continue to grow as their roles evolve. Those questions are rarely answered by technology alone. Instead, they are answered through the managers who help employees navigate change on a daily basis.

This represents an important shift in how organizations should think about AI implementation. Successful adoption depends on more than deploying new tools or establishing governance. It also depends on preparing managers to communicate effectively, reinforce learning, and build confidence throughout the transition. Organizations that recognize managers as a critical part of their AI strategy will be better positioned to help employees adapt as work continues to evolve.

As organizations place greater expectations on managers, they must also ensure managers are equipped to succeed. Our findings suggest that managers understand employee development has become a core part of their role. Nearly eight in ten managers (78%) say supporting employee development is one of their most important responsibilities, and an equal percentage feel accountable for helping employees build new skills as work changes. Most also report having the tools they need to support development (72%) and regularly discussing employees’ development goals (73%).

Employees generally agree that managers play an important role in their development, but they report experiencing that support less consistently. Just over half of individual contributors say their manager actively supports their learning and development (55%), helps them adapt as work changes (56%), or helps identify the skills they need to develop (53%). Fewer than half regularly discuss development goals with their manager (46%), and only 42% believe their manager helps prepare them for future career opportunities.

The same pattern extends to AI. Although 60% of managers say they feel prepared to lead employees whose work is augmented by AI, only 44% of employees say their manager helps them adapt to AI-related changes, and 42% believe their manager is helping them build the skills needed to succeed in an AI-enabled workplace. These findings do not suggest managers lack commitment. Rather, they suggest organizations have an opportunity to better support managers as they take on an increasingly developmental role.

Organizations have invested heavily in helping employees build new skills over the past several years. As AI, automation, and changing business priorities continue reshaping work, those investments will only become more important. Our findings suggest, however, that organizations should place equal emphasis on developing the managers responsible for reinforcing learning and guiding employees through change.

Historically, manager development often focused on improving operational effectiveness, strengthening leadership capabilities, or preparing high-potential leaders for broader responsibilities. Those capabilities remain important, but today’s environment requires managers to take on a more developmental role. Increasingly, employees expect managers to clarify future skill needs, create opportunities for learning, and help them adapt as work evolves.

The findings throughout this report suggest that organizations do not need to choose between investing in AI and investing in managers. The two are increasingly interconnected. As technology continues reshaping work, managers become the people who help employees understand change, build new capabilities, and apply new ways of working with confidence.

Preparing managers for this role requires more than expanding traditional leadership development. Organizations should also consider how they equip managers to reinforce learning, guide career development, and create confidence during periods of uncertainty. While every organization will approach this challenge differently, our findings point to several priorities that can help managers succeed.

Perceptyx is the people activation company, closing the gap between understanding your workforce and actually developing it. By connecting employee listening, validated learning, and behavioral reinforcement into a single continuous system, Perceptyx enables organizations to move from insight to verified skill development, sustained behavior change, and measurable business performance. Powered by AI and one of the world’s richest employee experience datasets, Perceptyx helps leading enterprises build more adaptive, capable, and high-performing workforces.

For more information, or to speak with a member of our team, visit www.perceptyx.com