The AI Access Gap Is Widening Amid Uneven Adoption

An article from Dive Brief Senior leaders report better access to AI tools and training than junior staff, creating adoption disparities and strategic misalignment across enterprises. Published Aug. 3, 2026 ciodive.com Getty Images This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. ### Dive Brief: * As AI applications spread across enterprise toolkits, more than two-thirds of employees are using AI at least once a day, according to a report from the Infosys Knowledge Institutepublished last week. The IT services company’s research and thought leadership division surveyed more than 2,600 white-collar workers for its AI and the Future of Work report. * Enterprise users said AI saves an average of four hours per week, and most are turning the increased bandwidth into higher output: completing new tasks or focusing on higher-value work. * Despite advances in AI adoption, a disconnect is looming between senior management and frontline workers. More t han one-third of senior leaders say employees are always equipped with the AI tools they need, compared to just 19% of junior staffers. The gap in access and training is creating uneven AI adoption experiences in the enterprise. ### Dive Insight: Solving the puzzle of enterprise AI adoption calls for the smooth handling of people and technology issues. Most often, obstacles to wider, more consistent tool use sit at the intersection of both categories. Part of the problem is in training efforts, as workers tend to find upskilling opportunities provided by their employers to be disconnected from day-to-day tasks. The lack of guidance compounds the problem, as does a widening access gap between senior leaders and their teams. Access to tools and training is higher for senior leaders than regular staffers, creating a juxtaposition of experiences with AI, according to Infosys. For senior leaders, greater access to tools and training “leads to more trust, more security, and more worryingly, a potentially distorted view of AI adoption and efficacy among the staff below them,” the company said in its report. Middle managers, central figures for both strategy and execution, can shape how work gets done and help convey critical feedback to refine adoption plans, according to Infosys.Experts have previously underscored the importance of working alongside other C-suite leaders to shape AI upskilling programs, a way for CIOs to support wider AI implementation plans. CIOs need to prepare for lower levels of familiarity with AI, not just among employees in general, but among those joining the company, said Seth Robinson, VP of industry research at CompTIA. “There really can’t be the assumption that, at an individual level, people are going to come in with sufficient AI knowledge that can be applied in the workforce,” Robinson told CIO Dive. “There’s a stronger need for understanding exactly what a business is looking for when it comes to AI fluency.” Another looming disconnect is strategic in nature. Nearly half of senior leaders said in the Infosys report that their company aims to revamp most or all of its work and processes using A I. However, fewer than one-quarter of middle managers said the same. “This is the most damning evidence that senior leaders are failing to communicate their vision for the future of enterprise AI,” according to the report. “If middle managers are not on board with the transformational vision of top leadership, they cannot reasonably be expected to d eliver on it.”