Trust should be a priority for leaders, with 31% working against AI strategy, says Sponge
Recent data shows almost a third of knowledge workers actively working against AI initiatives, highlighting the need for L&D leaders to treat trust as a core part of AI enablement.
Bristol, UK — As organisations continue to invest heavily in AI transformation, recent research shows 31% of knowledge workers admit to actively working against their organisation’s AI initiatives, rising to 41% among Gen Z.*
For Callum Goodwilliam, Principal Learning Strategist at Sponge, the findings highlight how organisations need effective ways to influence and build trust if enablement programmes are to translate strategy into sustained new behaviours.
“Your AI strategy is up against an exhausted workforce, numb to yet another wave of change,” said Callum. “AI adds a significant additional kind of pressure on top of that fatigue. It is a contentious subject, and it lands on teams who’ve already sat through years of transformation projects that promised a lot and delivered little.”
“Trust is what determines whether people engage with change or quietly opt out. For L&D leaders, that means trust can’t be treated as a by-product of a good programme. It has to be something you deliberately influence and build.”
Callum will address the issue in an upcoming Sponge webinar, Head, Heart, Hands (and Gut): How to Rebuild Trust in Your AI Strategy, outlining a framework organisations can use to support building trust at scale.
“The framework is about giving people a direction they understand, leadership they trust, and room to build new habits before asking them to change how they work,” Goodwilliam added.
The webinar is free to attend. Register here.
Head, Heart, Hands (and Gut): How to Rebuild Trust in Your AI Strategy
29 September 2026 | 7am PST | 10am EST | 3pm BST | 45 mins
Learning outcomes:
- Engage champions, sceptics and everyone in between
- Measure trust alongside adoption
- Design learning experiences that build new behaviour
- Develop leaders who build team confidence
*[Source: WRITER, The 2025 Writer AI Survey, 2026.]