Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential

Source: McKinsey Digital

McKinsey: Employees are ready for AI integration, leaders will drive the change

Artificial intelligence has arrived in the workplace and has the potential to be as transformative as the steam engine was to the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. With powerful and capable large language models (LLMs) developed by Anthropic, Cohere, Google, Meta, Mistral, OpenAI, and others, we have entered a new information technology era. McKinsey research sizes the long-term AI opportunity at $4.4 trillion in added productivity growth potential from corporate use cases.

Therein lies the challenge: the long-term potential of AI is great, but the short-term returns are unclear. Over the next three years, 92 percent of companies plan to increase their AI investments. But while nearly all companies are investing in AI, only 1 percent of leaders call their companies “mature” on the deployment spectrum, meaning that AI is fully integrated into workflows and drives substantial business outcomes. The big question is how business leaders can deploy capital and steer their organizations closer to AI maturity.

This research report, prompted by Reid Hoffman’s book Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future, asks a similar question: How can companies harness AI to amplify human agency and unlock new levels of creativity and productivity in the workplace? AI could drive enormous positive and disruptive change. This transformation will take some time, but leaders must not be dissuaded. Instead, they must advance boldly today to avoid becoming uncompetitive tomorrow. The history of major economic and technological shifts shows that such moments can define the rise and fall of companies. Over 40 years ago, the internet was born. Since then, companies including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft have attained trillion-dollar market capitalizations. Even more profoundly, the internet changed the anatomy of work and access to information. AI now is like the internet many years ago: The risk for business leaders is not thinking too big, but rather too small.

This report explores companies’ technology and business readiness for AI adoption. It concludes that employees are ready for AI. The biggest barrier to success is leadership.

Report summary

McKinsey’s report reveals a powerful shift in the workplace: AI isn't replacing people, it’s empowering them. McKinsey introduces the concept of “superagency”, where AI enhances human creativity, decision‑making, and productivity beyond any previous innovation.

While over 90% of companies plan to boost AI investment, only 1% have reached true maturity, suggesting a significant opportunity gap. Businesses that invest in practical AI use cases and pair them with leadership alignment and workforce readiness can create “competitive moats” and unlock transformative ROI.

Report overview

Chapter 1 looks at the rapid advancement of technology over the past two years and its implications for business adoption of AI.

Chapter 2 delves into the attitudes and perceptions of employees and leaders. Our research shows that employees are more ready for AI than their leaders imagine. In fact, they are already using AI on a regular basis; are three times more likely than leaders realize to believe that AI will replace 30 percent of their work in the next year; and are eager to gain AI skills. Still, AI optimists are only a slight majority in the workplace; a large minority (41 percent) are more apprehensive and will need additional support. This is where millennials, who are the most familiar with AI and are often in managerial roles, can be strong advocates for change.

Chapter 3 looks at the need for speed and safety in AI deployment. While leaders and employees want to move faster, trust and safety are top concerns. About half of employees worry about AI inaccuracy and cybersecurity risks. That said, employees express greater confidence that their own companies, versus other organizations, will get AI right. The onus is on business leaders to prove them right, by making bold and responsible decisions.

Chapter 4 examines how companies risk losing ground in the AI race if leaders do not set bold goals. As the hype around AI subsides, companies should put a heightened focus on practical applications that empower employees in their daily jobs. These applications can create competitive moats and generate measurable ROI. Across industries, functions, and geographies, companies that invest strategically can go beyond using AI to drive incremental value and instead create transformative change.

Chapter 5 looks at what is required for leaders to set their teams up for success with AI. The challenge of AI in the workplace is not a technology challenge. It is a business challenge that calls upon leaders to align teams, address AI headwinds, and rewire their companies for change.

WORK-SELF Insights

1. What is AI Superagency?

Insight: AI has crossed from automating repetitive tasks to enhancing cognitive functions like reasoning, planning, and choice-making. McKinsey says superagency "increases personal productivity and creativity" beyond past innovations like the internet or printed press .

Our take: At Work‑Self, we see this as a model to amplify human potential. Our tools aim to empower, not replace, the inner voice and personal clarity that make career transitions real and meaningful.

2. Human and AI: A Leadership Challenge

Insight: The true barrier isn’t tech, it’s people. Leaders often misjudge employee readiness and struggle with aligning AI strategy across the organisation .

Our take: Leadership clarity begins at the individual level. We design our platform to help users build alignment first, so organisations can scale AI in tandem with human agency.

3. Scaling AI: Bold Goals Over Small Steps

Insight: McKinsey warns against timid adoption. The focus should be on high-impact, measurable AI use cases, not endless pilots .

Our take: We believe the same applies to career transformation. Real change happens when you combine a clear audit, identity tools, and guided momentum—not piecemeal self-help.

4. Training and Trust Are Essential

Insight: Over 48% of employees cite training as the key to AI adoption, yet many receive little of it. Still, 71% trust their employers to implement AI responsibly .

Our take: That trust is precious. Work‑Self honours it with tools that are intuitive, safe, and scaffolded, and we seek to build with transparency and care at every stage.