The AI Revolution is Being Led From the Front Lines, Not the C-Suite, New Moveworks Research Finds

91% of IT executives at billion-dollar companies credit non-technical staff for driving AI adoption, revealing a fundamental power shift

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moveworks, the leading agentic AI assistant platform for the enterprise, today released its new report, “The new face of AI leadership,” revealing a shift in how artificial intelligence is adopted across some of the country’s largest enterprises. The study, conducted in partnership with independent market research firm Wakefield Research, surveyed 200 U.S. IT executives at companies with over $1 billion in revenue and found that enterprise AI adoption is a bottom-up movement, driven by non-technical employees who are reshaping company culture, career path trajectory, and how work gets done.

This research dismantles the long-held belief that new technology adoption is a c-suite or IT-driven mandate. Instead, it shows that the most impactful AI initiatives are originating from frontline employees, rather than executives and engineers, who use agentic AI to solve the real-world business challenges they face every day. This democratization of AI is rewriting org charts and creating new career paths, but it is also creating a culture gap, as many executives acknowledge they are underestimating the structural changes required to support this new reality.

Key findings:

• 91% of IT executives credit non-technical employees with driving agentic AI initiatives, playing a larger role than in any previous technology wave.
• 78% say the most successful agentic AI projects originated by support staff tackling persistent challenges. For 37%, this has occurred multiple times.
• Over a third (39%) of executives expect agentic AI to create upward mobility for all employees, not just technical specialists. 68% of companies have already created new roles dedicated to agentic AI management; 31% say they should.
• 78% of executives report agentic AI has significantly or completely reshaped business processes and decision-making.
• 96% of executives would rather deploy a useful AI tool than the newest Large Language Model (LLM), focusing on practical results instead of hype.
• 73% of executives admit their organizations are unprepared for the cultural disruption agentic AI will bring, highlighting a growing gap between technology and workplace readiness.

“Viewing agentic AI as just another IT project misses the seismic shift happening across the enterprise," said Bhavin Shah, CEO and Co-founder of Moveworks. “It’s not just a technological transformation happening, but a cultural one. The future of work won’t be created by those who bring in the most tools or apps. It will be built by those who eliminate friction and empower employees to work efficiently and easily.”

The report also finds that companies are evolving how they measure the value of AI. Beyond efficiency gains, leaders are now tracking ROI through increased output (57%), process reinvention (53%), and the creation of new capabilities (47%). This signals a shift toward measuring AI’s ability to transform how work gets done, not just how quickly.

To view the full findings, view the full report: https://www.moveworks.com/us/en/resources/reports/how-employee-led-ai-is-redefining-how-enterprises-work

Moveworks helps the world’s more prominent companies automate repetitive tasks, freeing employees to focus on high-value work. Named as one of Fast Company’s 2025 Most Innovative Companies in Enterprise, a Top AI Agent for the Enterprise, and one of the top AI SaaS companies in 2025, Moveworks has also won the 2024 AI Breakthrough Award, and is on the Forbes Cloud 100 and AI 50 lists.

About Moveworks

Moveworks is the leading agentic AI Assistant platform that empowers the entire workforce. It's trusted by over 5 million employees at more than 350 of the world’s largest companies, including 10% of the Fortune 500, to automate everyday tasks and streamline business operations. Moveworks has been featured in Fast Company, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNBC, and more. Based in Mountain View, CA, Moveworks is redefining enterprise productivity. For more information, follow Moveworks on LinkedIn or visit Moveworks.com.