Kyocera was proud to sponsor Economist Impact to produce this in-depth report on building AI-powered workplaces.

The study examines how organisations in five global financial hubs – London, New York, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo – are preparing their employees for a successful, AI powered future. Based on a survey of 639 senior executives conducted in late 2025, the report looks at how leaders are developing the skills, culture and governance needed to scale AI responsibly and sustainably.

The research focuses on three key areas of AI workforce readiness:

• Strategic readiness and investment: How leadership commitments, funding and long-term planning enable organisations to meaningfully integrate AI across operations.
  
  

• Essential skills and talent development: How companies can close technical and human skills gaps needed to prepare their workforces for new and evolving roles shaped by AI.
  
  

• Cultural and ethical governance: How fostering continuous upskilling and building AI governance frameworks support responsible, safe and sustainable AI use across organisations.

Key figures from the global survey

1. The ambition–investment paradox - 88% of leaders recognise AI as a source of competitive advantage, yet few have invested in that ambition. Only 38% have a dedicated budget for AI skill development.

2. Training without transformation - 99% of executives report having an approach to develop AI-relevant skills. However, most respondents rely on informal or ad hoc approaches. 

3. The governance imperative - Only 8% of organisations have implemented a comprehensive governance framework. Cybersecurity is rated essential by 96% of executives, but just 20% say their teams are proficient in managing AI-related risks.

4. The middle-management bottleneck - 60% of executives say their leadership team is aligned on AI talent strategy, but 48% say managers have only minimal responsibility for AI skill development of their teams and 8% say they have none.