AI use at work hits 50% in the US, and that matters for SEA’s gaming and tech scene too
Artificial intelligence is no longer a niche tool for a few power users. According to new Gallup data, 50% of employed adults in the US now use AI at least occasionally in their work, marking a major adoption milestone.
That number covers people using AI in some form over the course of a year, but the more interesting signal is how fast regular usage is rising. Gallup’s Q1 2026 survey found that 13% of employees now use AI daily, while 28% use it daily or a few times a week, both record highs.
The survey was conducted between February 4 and February 19, 2026, with responses from 23,717 US employees. Gallup says total AI usage has climbed sharply from 21% in Q2 2023 to 50% in Q1 2026, including a 4% jump from Q4 2025.
That growth is happening even though the bigger business results still look mixed.
A separate executive survey cited in the report said more than 80% of AI-using companies have not yet seen productivity gains from these tools, despite massive spending and aggressive rollout across industries. In other words, workers are clearly using AI more, but companies are still figuring out how to turn that into better systems, better output, or lower costs in a consistent way.
Gallup’s numbers reflect that tension quite well.
On one side, employees are generally optimistic. Among people working at companies that use AI, 65% said they feel positive about AI’s impact on their own productivity and efficiency, with 16% saying they feel extremely positive. AI seems to be landing best in practical, focused tasks, especially things like summarising information.
On the other side, workplace disruption is becoming harder to ignore. 27% of employees at AI-using companies said their workplace experienced large or very large disruption over the past year, compared with 12% at companies not using AI.
The hiring picture is also messy. Workers at AI-adopting firms were more likely to say their companies were adding headcount at 34% versus 28% at non-AI firms. At the same time, they were also more likely to report headcount reductions, at 23% versus 16%. That suggests AI is not leading to one simple outcome. Some businesses are expanding, some are restructuring, and many are probably doing both at once.
There is also still real skepticism at ground level. 10% of respondents said AI is having a negative impact on their work, while 21% said AI is changing how work gets done at their company.
For readers in Malaysia and the wider SEA region, this matters because the same pattern is already easy to imagine across gaming, esports, content, and tech teams here. Studios, publishers, esports operators, media teams, and creator businesses are all under pressure to move faster with leaner teams. AI fits neatly into that environment for tasks like drafting, summarising, planning, research, moderation support, and internal workflow help.
But the Gallup data is a useful reality check. Adoption alone does not mean a company has figured things out. More people using AI does not automatically translate into cleaner operations, better jobs, or stronger output. It can just as easily create confusion, duplicated processes, and anxiety if leadership pushes tools faster than teams can adapt.
That is especially relevant in SEA, where many gaming and digital media companies operate with tight margins and aggressive timelines. If AI is going to stick, it will need to prove itself in everyday workflows, not just in pitch decks and internal demos.
Right now, the clearest takeaway is simple: workers are embracing AI faster than organisations are learning how to use it well.
Source: Tom's Hardware
