At many organizations, senior leaders have a positive view of their employees’ ability and willingness to use AI. In our recent survey of 1,400 U.S.-based employees, 76% of executives reported that their employees feel enthusiastic about AI adoption in their organization. But the view from the bottom up is less sunny: Just 31% of individual contributors expressed enthusiasm about adopting AI. That means leaders are more than two times off the mark.

This disconnect is a symptom of a broader executive blind spot: They’re not especially attuned to what employees think, and they don’t realize it. We found that 75% of executives believe their company is already employee-centric—but only 23% of individual contributors agree.

This isn’t just a tale of two disconnects. Our research reveals that listening to employees, making the effort to deeply understand their needs, and then investing to address them is a game changer: Employee-centric organizations are seven times more likely to succeed with AI.