A gap is opening between different kinds of AI users
Some people are barely using AI. Others use it to automate work, learn faster and take on tasks they could not do before.
That gap may become significant.
What are the most effective people and organisations doing differently with AI?
The AI Thrivers Study is field research into how people thrive in an AI world, and how organisations are adapting as AI becomes part of everyday work.
Led by Nick Petrie and a team spread around the world.
By thrivers we mean people and organisations who keep performing well, and stay well, as AI changes how they work. We are talking to people across industries to find out what they do differently, and where new problems are emerging.
Emerging findings
Four patterns keep showing up in our interviews.
The best users are not simply using more AI
The strongest people we are studying are selective.
They know when to think first, when to do the work themselves, when to ask someone and when to stop.
Judgement is becoming more important
When AI can produce many reasonable answers, the harder question is which answer is actually good.
People increasingly need to judge what matters, what is accurate, what needs improving and when the work is finished.
AI is changing how people learn
People increasingly ask AI questions they once asked other people.
That makes learning faster, but it may weaken the relationships through which people develop expertise. We are watching what this means for junior employees and future experts.
Also emerging
AI can increase workload rather than reduce it
Making work easier to produce does not necessarily create more space. It often leads people and organisations to produce more.
AI capability and job performance are not the same thing
Being very good at using AI does not automatically make someone very good at their job. Speed is not the same as judgement or craft.
More possibilities can make prioritisation harder
AI makes it easier to start things. It does not make it easier to decide what deserves attention.
What we are hearing
- “I only got my energy back when I did fewer things at once with AI: one agent, one context, one clear step at a time.”
- “I’m wary of handing over anything that has to sound like me. People notice when you didn’t write it.”
- “I feel two things at once: wild possibility, and a loss of purpose about what my team is for.”
- “Roles are blurring. A confident, fast answer lets people step into jobs they never did before.”
- “The surviving role looks more like a coach: helping people think about the problem, not producing the analysis.”
These findings are still developing. We keep testing them against new interviews and organisations, and update them as the evidence changes.
How you can get involved
We are looking for people and organisations who are willing to contribute to the next stage of the research.
Confidential by design. Interviews are anonymised. Nothing you share is attributed to you or your organisation without your agreement, and findings are only ever reported in aggregate.
Individuals
We are particularly interested in speaking with people who:
- Use AI regularly in their work
- Are experimenting with new ways of working
- Have developed approaches that seem especially effective
- Have concerns or reservations about AI
- Have noticed meaningful changes to their role, workload, learning or performance
About 45 minutes, one conversation, no preparation needed. Interviews are conversational and focus on real examples of how your work is changing.
What participants get
Participants can choose to receive the emerging findings from the project and see how their experience compares with patterns we are seeing across roles, industries and organisations.
Organisations
We partner with organisations that are actively introducing AI into everyday work.
Participation might include interviews with a small group of employees, conversations with leaders and discussion of what we are seeing.
Participating organisations can:
- learn what patterns are emerging across other organisations and industries
- better understand how AI is affecting the everyday experience of their own people
- identify emerging opportunities, tensions and risks
- contribute to a wider body of practical research
- receive a discussion of the findings most relevant to their organisation
This is research, not an assessment of individual employees.
What happens next
Questions before you sign up? Email nick@nicholaspetrie.com
The research team
A group of researchers, coaches and practitioners, studying this question from different perspectives and industries.
NP
Nicholas Petrie
Lead researcher
Nick leads the AI Thrivers Study. His and the team's previous field research into sustainable high performance forms the basis of the book Burn Bright. Nick is a former senior faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, has a master's degree from Harvard University, and works with leading organisations around the world in tech, finance, healthcare and professional sports.
What we are studying
Our research is focused on a simple question:
What are the most effective people and organisations doing differently as AI becomes part of everyday work?
We are particularly interested in questions such as:
- How is AI changing the way people actually work?
- What separates effective adopters from less effective ones?
- Where is it creating new forms of overload, dependency or friction?
- What happens to judgement, learning and expertise when AI does more of the work?
- What helps people sustain high performance as the pace of work increases?
How the research works
We partner with organisations and individuals who are actively using AI in their work. The research includes:
Interviews with people using AI in different roles and industries
Conversations with leaders responsible for AI adoption
Field observations and case examples
Ongoing testing of emerging ideas with real groups
Where this builds from
This research builds on the first phase of our study, exploring why some people are able to sustain strong performance in demanding environments without sacrificing their health or the rest of their lives.
That work examined the habits, mindsets and environments of the individuals and organisations we called thrivers. The ten habits in Burn Bright are based on the thriver habits we discovered in the first phases of the research.
Burn Bright
10 Habits to Sustain High Performance in an Always-On World
Get the book →The latest phase asks a new question:
What changes when AI becomes part of the system?
Keep learning
To get the latest insights, findings and research from our study, follow Nick on LinkedIn.
Follow Nick on LinkedIn →Most popular ideas from the research