A survey of 500 directors in the US and UK for a report, AI at Work, From Vision to Value, found that directors at enterprises are two times more likely to worry about being judged or discredited for AI use compared with directors in mid-sized companies.

The survey also found that those aged 35 and over experienced this to a greater extent than younger colleagues, and found that the smaller the company, the more heavily each employee uses it.

There were also gender differences in feelings about AI, according to the research, with 58% of women reporting using tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, compared with 44% of men. Additionally, women were 80% more likely than men to say they ‘only know a little’ about AI.

The research looked to explore the reasons driving the adoption of AI in the workplace, with participants in the survey citing speed ( 59%), accuracy ( 56%) and productivity ( 53%) as the top reasons for using it. The research found that innovation did not factor in the top five reasons for AI adoption.

In terms of the barriers to using AI more extensively, the top cited factor was data privacy and security concerns, cited by 40% of participants.

Inam Mahmood, general manager, Nielsen Emea, said: “The findings show that the focus for directors isn’t on futuristic concepts of ‘innovation,’ but on the real, tangible value that AI is delivering today, in the form of speed, accuracy, and productivity.”

Mahmood added: “The tools that succeed are the ones that seamlessly integrate into existing workflows and quickly prove their ROI.”