monday.com People Director says perception gap and job fears slow AI adoption

Cat Paterson, regional People Director at monday.com, told me in a March 4 interview that a perception gap between leaders and employees, plus fears about job security, are major frictions slowing AI adoption across the company. The World of Work research behind her analysis pulls together monday.com’s Learn Monday chapters, a Nielsen survey of 500 directors and platform workflow signals, and external studies that together show leaders overestimating frontline enthusiasm for AI.

The Nielsen sample of 500 directors makes clear what leaders hope AI will deliver: 59% of directors cite speed as a top motivator, 56% cite accuracy, and 53% cite productivity, while “innovation” does not crack the top five. Still, directors named data privacy and security as their top hurdle at 40%, and monday.com flagged enterprise directors as “2× more likely” to worry about being judged or discredited for using AI compared with mid-sized peers. The survey also surfaced a gender confidence gap: 58% of women reported using tools like ChatGPT and Claude versus 44% of men, yet women were 80% more likely than men to say they only “know a little” about AI, a finding Seetvun Amir, VP Product at monday.com, calls “a powerful reminder that confidence and capability don’t always align.”

Adoption varies sharply by department and generation in the Learn Monday data. IT professionals report 86% adoption, marketing 77%, and R&D 72%, while sales report 51% openness and customer support 40%. Assaf Elovic, Head of AI at monday.com, interprets that split as a risk-tolerance effect: “the departments showcasing greater AI adoption have humans reviewing whatever AI produces, while in customer-facing roles like sales and customer support, the risk of AI mistakes is far greater.” Generational differences appear too: millennials show 73% adoption versus 59% for Gen Z, even as separate LinkedIn/HBR summaries find 76% of executives believe employees are enthusiastic about AI while only 31% of individual contributors report enthusiasm.

Outside monday.com, the People Managing People “AI Limbo” research frames the issue as readiness rather than resistance. Two December 2025 surveys of 1,000 employed workers and 379 HR professionals underpin that report, and Editorial Director David Rice said explicitly, “Employees are largely open to AI agents and see real potential in how they can support everyday work, but many organizations have not yet put the training, governance, or communication in place to make that adoption feel safe or effective. The gap isn’t about resistance. It’s about readiness, and leaders who focus on enablement over speed will be better positioned as AI agents become part of daily work.”

Those layered findings map onto practical concerns at monday.com: security worries and judgment anxieties, especially among older directors (35+) and Gen Z workers who, LinkedIn/HBR summaries show, hide AI use at higher rates (47% of Gen Z) because nearly half cite fear of judgment. monday.com’s internal framing captures that tension: “AI adoption is emotionally layered, and the shift from viewing it as cutting corners to accepting it as a baseline isn’t happening evenly,” and its Nielsen-backed note cautions that “the full paradigm shift that it promised may not be happening right now.”

The policy implication is concrete: closing the perception gap will require training, governance, and clearer communication on job impact and review workflows. David Rice’s recommendation to prioritize enablement over speed is the clearest prescription in the research: organizations that address readiness with training, governance, and communication are positioned to convert director-level intent into safe, sustained adoption on the front lines.