Gartner ThinkCast AI Is Ready, Your Workforce Isn't: Why AI ROI Falls Short
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Mar 17, 2026 Alicia Mullery, Gartner VP and analyst on workforce readiness and AI adoption, explains why human readiness—not tech—blocks AI value. She discusses why most AI projects stall, the three types of AI value, role redesign over layoffs, and the skills and change management needed for real impact.
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Human Readiness Is The Real Bottleneck
- Most AI initiatives fail to produce financial ROI because organizations confuse technology readiness with human readiness.
- Alicia Mullery says human readiness (workforce, structures, processes, change management, data) is the bigger gap blocking value capture.
Three Types Of AI Value And A Portfolio Approach
- There are three distinct types of AI value: defend (ROE), extend (ROI), and up-end (ROF), and mixing expectations causes disappointment.
- Mullery recommends a portfolio allocation (≈20% defend, 50–60% extend, rest for up-end) to match objectives to outcomes.
AI Is Causing Role Repositioning Not Mass Layoffs
- AI-driven job losses were minimal; only about 1% of last year's job losses were from pure productivity gains, while 17% were job repositioning.
- Mullery explains headlines hide net hiring in new areas after reductions elsewhere, meaning role shifts not apocalypse.