Employees with an optimistic ‘Pilot’ mindset around AI are 3.6x more productive at work, finds BetterUp
How can we have more Pilots in our organizations, and reap the rewards? UNLEASH digs into new data from BetterUp and Stanford to find out the answer.
News In Brief
Long-term research by coaching company BetterUp and Stanford University identified two worker mindsets when it comes to AI: Pilots and Passengers.
Pilots are driving real business benefits with AI, so how can organizations cultivate more of this AI approach among their workers?
UNLEASH explores the data, and the learnings for HR, with BetterUp's Research Scientist Alex Liebscher.
For the past two years, coaching company BetterUp and the Stanford University’s Social Media Lab have been studying 12,000 workers to understand how AI is transforming their work.
The research has identified that, in this age of AI, there are two types of workers – Pilots and Passengers.
Pilots are those who are driving the AI wave – they are optimistic about the future of work, and are taking charge in this age of AI with confidence.
By contrast, Passengers are simply along for the ride – they are skeptical and feel powerless in the face of AI, which leads to them not experimenting with AI tools.
Credit: BetterUp, Pilots and Passengers.
BetterUp’s data found just 28% of the workforce are Pilots, but they are 3.6x more productive and 3.1x more loyal than Passengers.
The question that remains is how can organizations transform the remaining 72%, who are Passengers, into Pilots? As the report stated, “how do we equip our workforces with the mindsets and skills needed to thrive alongside this transformative technology?”
Alex Liebscher, Research Scientist at BetterUp, exclusively tells UNLEASH that this latest report from BetterUp makes it “clear that for any organization, successfully integrating AI into the workplace is about building employees’ agency and optimism toward AI just as much as it is about deploying the tools.
“To see meaningful return on investment, organizations need to go beyond implementation, and invest in cultivating confidence, encouraging thoughtful experimentation, and building a culture that views AI not as a threat, but as a tool they can leverage to their advantage.”
BetterUp and Stanford University’s research suggests that managers play a key role here – let’s explore how organizations can better leverage their managers to drive employee AI enthusiasm (and the resulting benefits).
‘In 2025, the #1 manager job is build more Pilots’: BetterUp
BetterUp and Stanford’s data shows that “managers are the biggest lever to shift mindsets”.
Credit: BetterUp, Pilots and Passengers.
BetterUp’s Liebscher tells UNLEASH: “Managers are critical in shaping how employees perceive and engage with AI.
“When a manager has a Pilot mindset, their team is up to 3x more likely to also have a Pilot mindset.
“These managers not only model effective AI use, but also help their teams navigate uncertainty and keep human creativity and judgment at the forefront.
When managers lead with confidence and curiosity, they create a ripple effect, encouraging AI readiness and adoption across the organization.”
Of course, this is much easier said than done – managers themselves are facing a plethora of challenges in the modern workplace.
According to BetterUp, 53% of managers are burnt out, and two in ten employees lose sleep because their manager is stressed.
The good news is that AI can take away some of the burden on managers – 65% of employees told BetterUp and Stanford University that tracking performance and managing deadlines could be better handled by AI, than a human.
AI can, therefore, free managers up to do truly human work – like motivating teams (92%), giving and receiving feedback (85% and 90%) and coaching their team on non-technical skills (85%).
“As technology becomes more and more intelligent, we need managers to become more human” , and when they do step up around human skills, “their teams perform 34% better, are 21% more innovative, and see a 15% boost in overall productivity”, according to BetterUp’s report.
Credit: BetterUp, Pilots and Passengers.
In conclusion, Liebscher from BetterUp shares: “Because managers have an outsized influence on how the broader organization engages with AI, it’s essential for HR to focus on cultivating the characteristics that define the Pilot mindset in them.
“At the heart of AI fluency are two coachable qualities: agency and optimism. These characteristics are best built in environments marked by psychological safety and strong, transparent leadership communication.
By investing in manager development through coaching and encouraging low risk, thoughtful experimentation with AI, HR can encourage the adoption of AI in a way that is both sustainable and empowering.”
Want to dig more into how HR can support managers in this challenging environment? You can tune into this UNLEASH webinar, in partnership with Perceptyx, on what makes managers sink or soar.
