How Far Along Is Workplace AI Adoption?

Workplace AI adoption is not even at first base. Malik says over 50% of American workers seem to be using AI, and the share is probably higher, but companies have barely begun to integrate AI work. He says that is why 2025 showed no deep productivity impact from AI.

The run-up had three phases. In the 2010s, AI meant using a lot of data to make decisions: algorithms that power TikTok, recommend movies to buy, set prices people will pay, and choose where to site the next store. Money poured into data as the new oil. The launch of ChatGPT moved the field to generative AI, built around back-and-forth work with chatbots. At the end of last year came the agentic era, when a system can take an instruction and do the equivalent of weeks of human work without further help.

AI labs are in a separate game. Malik says they are early in some ways and at the very end game in others, racing for superintelligence, and whether they can reach it is still an open question.