IT workers see generative AI as a serious threat to their profession

While many IT workers see the productivity benefits of AI, 56% believe it benefits employers more than employees, according to Ivanti.

Additionally, 63% are concerned generative AI tools might take their job in the next five years compared to 44% of office workers. Interestingly, when office workers need IT for a problem, they prefer to have a human on the other end, adding to IT’s workload.

When asked about leveraging a chatbot/automation that is as helpful as using a human, 58% still preferred human interaction. In short, IT professionals and employees aren’t sold on AI quite yet, so it is up to executives to address their employees’ fears and allocate resources to advance DEX (digital employee experience).

The report revealed that inadequate DEX practices are much more than a tech problem for knowledge workers:

• 78% say they could be more productive with different tools.
• 57% report serious friction at least weekly while using workplace technology.
• 17% have either quit due to poor tech or would consider it — and the figure is nearly 2x as high for Gen Z.
• 61% say negative technology experiences impact morale.

“Organizations globally are grappling with how to optimize DEX for the entire workforce,” said Jeff Abbott, Ivanti CEO. “Best-in-class organizations view DEX as a powerful tool to improve accessibility, employee retention and the security of their organization. However, with the rapid progress of AI and automation, the real DEX opportunity is for organizations to enhance employee productivity, speed, and value creation with the best possible IT solution platform.”

Notably, IT professionals who are tasked with implementing DEX in the organization don’t always reap the benefits of it.

While the vast majority of IT professionals (84%) want to continue to work remotely at least some of the time, they’re also significantly more likely to experience a wide range of technology problems at work compared to other office workers.

85% of IT workers spend at least part of their week at home, yet 27% say their tech tools are not as effective when working remotely.

39% report too many logins, 47% report too many digital notifications and 42% report too many tools/platforms required as a tech problem they experience at work.

One in five say they don’t have full visibility into which workplace applications employees use.