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AI is reshaping the modern workplace, transforming how teams manage day-to-day tasks, workloads and decision-making. In 2025, with 88% of organisations worldwide using it, adoption is increasing at a rapid pace.
With technology continuously evolving, 92% of companies are planning to increase their investment over the next three years, reflecting a broader shift in how businesses are approaching the use of AI within their team.
As this shift continues, employers’ expectations are changing, and familiarity with using AI is becoming an essential skill. Already, 58% of employees globally use it on a regular basis at work.
Developing AI literacy in the workplace requires a clear understanding of when it’s effective, when it should be avoided and how to form efficient prompts to deliver useful outputs.
66% of employees feel they are unable to complete their work without AI assistance, relying on it to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks such as drafting emails, rephrasing content, summarising meeting notes and brainstorming ideas.
However, the impact of AI in the workplace extends beyond simply saving time. Employees are reporting significant improvements to their overall working experience, with the technology reducing workload by 40% and stress by 36%.
While the use of AI for repetitive tasks remains similar, employees are adapting in different ways. For financial services professionals, the focus is on improvement for internal processes, including data visualisation and software engineering tasks. HR professionals are focusing on its use for talent acquisition.
As it becomes a familiar part of working life, it’s important to understand when it’s appropriate to use. Notably, 44% of employees have used AI in ways that violate organisational policies, including uploading sensitive company information to public AI tools.
70% of workers are using free public options rather than employer-provided tools, exposing sensitive information to potential data breaches and reputational damage. To avoid this, it’s worth familiarising yourself with your company’s AI policy and data protection regulations. Organisations should have clear guidance on information that can and can’t be shared.
Additionally, knowing when to use AI goes beyond the information you share, it’s also important to recognise how it can take away from your unique perspective.
| When you should use AI | When you shouldn’t use AI |
| To brainstorm new ideas: Create a wide range of ideas quickly, then refine and develop them. | To input sensitive company information: Avoid sharing confidential data that could result in a data breach. |
| Summarise documents or reports: Upload lengthy documents and pull out the key points. | To produce creative work: While AI can support your creative thinking, it shouldn’t replace it entirely. |
| Draft emails: Create a first draft but adapt the tone and content to your voice. | To verify facts and provide statistics: AI can generate inaccurate or outdated information. |
| To rephrase content: Paste existing work to simplify, restructure or adapt the tone. | To make complex decisions: AI is unable to replicate decisions that require critical thinking. |
| Summarise meeting notes: Provide meeting notes and create a concise summary or use tools like Otter.ai to transcribe a meeting. | Company policy restrictions: While its use is growing, some organisations may prohibit the use of AI. |
| Analyse data: Identify trends in large data sets, generate formulas and assist with writing code. | To replace your own skills: If you are constantly using AI this can limit your growth and learning. |
Choosing the correct platform can make a significant difference to the quality of your work. There are endless tools available, so it’s important to know which platform is best suited to various tasks.
| AI platform: | What it can be used for: | Common roles this supports: |
| ChatGPT | Best for drafting emails, brainstorming ideas, image generation and summarising research. | Marketing manager, personal assistant, executive assistant, marketing executive, HR manager, research analyst, operations manager. |
| Claude AI | Best for writing support, coding and analysing large documents. | Content writer, software developer, marketing executive and manager, finance analyst. |
| Google Gemini | Specifically designed to boost productivity, it can identify patterns in workflows and propose methods to simplify tasks. | Data analyst, accountant, compliance officer, executive assistant, HR manager. |
| Otter.ai | Best used as an automated meeting assistant to summarise and transcribe virtual meetings. | Operations manager, consultant, HR manager, executive assistant, project manager, directors. |
| Microsoft Copilot | Works best for summarising and generating content, however it is less helpful outside of Microsoft software. | Content writer, marketing manager, office manager. |
The information you provide when communicating with an AI tool significantly impacts the output you receive. When you enter a prompt, AI analyses your input and generates a response based on previous training and your command. The more detail you include in your prompt, the better the quality response you receive.
Drawing on the CRAFT prompting method developed by Lauren Bradley when creating your AI prompts, there are several important considerations.
| Consideration: | How this supports your prompt: | Example: |
| Context | To generate an effective answer AI needs to understand who you are. | “I am [job title] at a [organisation type].” |
| Role | Ask AI to act a specific persona to tailor the outcome further. | “You are an expert in social media content creation.” |
| Action | Ensure to use specific instructions such as summarise, draft, create, analyse and rewrite. | “Please draft an email to [recipient] about [topic].” |
| Format | Tell AI how you would like the output to be structured. | “Please summarise this document into 5 bullet points.” |
| Tone | Explain the target audience and the tone you are wanting the output to be. | “Please ensure the tone is [professional/warm/direct/formal].” |
As AI continues to expand across the workplace, developing the knowledge and confidence to use it correctly is becoming increasingly important. By understanding when AI is appropriate to use and experimenting with various prompts and platforms, you can increase your AI literacy.
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