Confidence Is Learned: New Study Reveals the Gen AI Confidence Gap

Organizations that see the most progress embed structured Gen AI learning into daily workflows, according to new research from Degreed and Harvard Business Publishing

Salt Lake City, UT – June 4, 2025 – Degreed, the leading AI-powered learning platform for enterprise workforce transformation, in partnership with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning, has released a new global research report: How the Workforce Learns Generative AI in 2025. The findings reveal a critical confidence gap in the workforce’s ability to adopt generative AI (Gen AI) effectively – despite the technology’s accelerating impact on job roles and workflows.

The research, based on a survey of employees across industries and geographies, shows that while 48% of professionals expect Gen AI to change their job responsibilities, 78% lack the confidence to use these tools effectively. This gap presents both a risk to productivity and a powerful opportunity for performance gains when addressed strategically.

“Big businesses are investing billions in Generative AI technology. But so far, only a fraction of those investments are yielding the expected ROI. And lack of Gen AI expertise is one of the biggest challenges,” said Todd Tauber, Senior VP Marketing at Degreed. “So our research focuses on what it takes to build that expertise — by focusing on what the most confident, fluent people do differently to learn.”

The case for building workforce AI skills

The research makes a clear business case for building more confidence in workforce AI skills. Those who weave Gen AI into their daily work are 12x more likely to feel very confident using GenAI to deliver business outcomes. These workers are not AI specialists; rather, they’re employees across functions using Gen AI to automate, synthesize, and solve.

Very Confident Gen AI users are:

1.3x more likely to learn on the job
2x more likely to use Gen AI daily
4x more likely to apply it to real problems
77x more likely to derive measurable value from their use of Gen AI

Organizations must enable learning in the flow of work

The research also reveals that building Gen AI fluency isn’t about access alone – it’s about creating the right environment to build Gen AI skills. Organizations seeing the most progress are those that:

Clearly define how Gen AI changes roles and responsibilities
Embed structured, hands-on Gen AI learning into daily workflows
Align leadership across HR, IT, and L&D to support confident, consistent adoption

“One of the most important takeaways from this research is that confidence in Gen AI isn’t just about technical skill—it’s about mindset and support,” said Lisa Tenorio, SVP Product Innovation at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. “Learning happens best when people are encouraged to experiment, apply, and reflect in their real work environment. Leaders have to create the right conditions for that to happen.”

Download the full report

How the Workforce Learns Gen AI in 2025 offers research-backed insights and practical guidance for CHROs, CLOs, and CIOs aiming to drive Gen AI adoption with confidence.

Download the full report here.

About the research

In February 2025, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning in partnership with Degreed conducted an online survey of 2700 people working in companies with more than 1,000 employees across 5 continents: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa.

About Degreed

Degreed is the leading AI-powered learning platform for enterprise workforce transformation, helping organizations build the skills they need to stay ahead. With deep skill-building experiences, seamless integration with your HR technology suite, and intelligent automation, Degreed personalizes development at scale—so your workforce is always ready for what’s next. To learn more about Degreed, visit www.degreed.com.