The Paradox of AI According to Microsoft: Workers are Ready, Companies are Not

It Takes Courage

"It takes courage," says Vincenzo Esposito, CEO of Microsoft Italy, during a meeting with the press. The reference is to artificial intelligence, which is spreading very quickly within companies, although only a few of them are able to fully leverage it. According to Esposito, the skills of individual workers are important for making AI work, but they are not sufficient: there needs to be a shift from companies, because "the challenge is to find companies ready to use AI effectively."

Work Trend Index 2026: How AI is Transforming the World of Work and Employees' Skills

The Work Trend Index 2026 is the latest edition of Microsoft's annual report on the changes occurring globally in the world of work. One detail emerges that gives pause for thought: for a long time, there has been talk of skills or, more correctly, of the difficulties companies face in finding profiles in line with their needs. A problem defined as skill mismatch, which today, in some way, has been turned on its head. According to Microsoft's analysis, it is now the companies that are not living up to the capabilities of the workers.

Today, in fact, 58% of AI users can do work they couldn’t have done a year ago (55% in Italy). This percentage rises to 80% for workers in Frontier Firms (76% in Italy), those companies that are already making advanced use of artificial intelligence technologies. A figure that, according to the Redmond company, highlights how AI is not replacing humans but rather empowering them.

However, as Esposito emphasizes, finding companies that can value these capabilities is difficult. "What is most needed is not the technological expertise of individuals, but a change within the company."

In short, the adoption of artificial intelligence does not hinge on individual capabilities but on corporate culture: the impact of organizational factors weighs more than twice as much (67% vs. 32%). AI truly works only where it is seen as a strategic value, but on this front, the numbers are clear: only one in four workers globally, and just one in five in Italy, sees leadership aligned on the issue. A strategic error, considering that practical examples of managers using AI increase the perceived value of the technology among teams by 17%.

This gap between workers and corporate organization creates an evident paradox of transformation. On one hand, 65% of professionals (63% in Italy) fear falling behind if they do not master the new tools; on the other, 45% (43% in Italy) prefer to cling to old habits to secure short-term goals.

The real brake is the complete lack of motivation. Innovators are not valued: only 13% globally and a mere 11% in Italy are actually rewarded for changing their way of working.

How the Job Search is Changing

Also present at the meeting was Marcello Albergoni, Country Lead of LinkedIn Italy, who highlighted how the growth path within companies is also changing radically. "Careers are no longer linear," he says, explaining that the time when one enters a company after graduation, works their way up by specializing in a job function, and stays until retirement is now over. Moves are increasingly horizontal, both within the same company, where roles can change significantly, and when deciding to switch to another firm.

Consequently, the way HR conducts searches is also changing, looking more at soft skills than at the classic job title, the role filled. But this mostly happens in environments that have successfully embraced AI. Those that are still struggling find it hard to understand this change. The result is that employees experience what Albergoni calls job hugging, continuing a career just for convenience, even if they are not fully satisfied. This approach carries a risk: not updating themselves and becoming stagnant, making it progressively harder to find another job. According to Albergoni, to avoid this, "companies themselves must lay the groundwork for enabling workers to update their skills."

Is AI Taking Away Jobs?

Now we come to a highly debated topic: does technological evolution, in this case AI, put jobs at risk? Data shows that in the last year, hiring in SMEs has dropped by an average of 15-18%. But this is not a replacement: "it means that companies are trying to understand what is happening," explains Albergoni. Similarly, people, "not seeing a hiring boom, are waiting."

Data confirmed by the report Labor Market Report: Building a Future of Work That Works, which indicates that AI has generated over 1.3 million new jobs from 2023 to 2025.

Ultimately, the world of work is undergoing a profound transformation globally. Most companies today struggle to understand this change even more than workers do. For this reason, according to Microsoft, it takes courage from businesses—the courage to embrace innovation before it’s too late.