who should – From Envoy’s CEO Larry Gadea urging employees to learn AI on their own time, to GoDark’s Denis Dariotis keeping training informal for about three dozen staff, the push for AI fluency is colliding with the question of who actually owns the responsibility. A man
Larry Gadea wants the people who work for him to stay up to speed on AI—but he doesn’t think the learning can stay inside the office. The founder and CEO of the workplace software company Envoy said the company is investing in AI training so employees can embrace the technology as a tool to help them do better work. He still believes workers have to take responsibility for learning outside the office.
“We all have to learn a new thing, even if it means doing it on our own time,” Gadea said.
At Envoy, employees often don’t wait for a formal class. They demonstrate AI tools they’ve built and explain how they developed them during all-hands meetings, generally twice a month. Individual teams also meet regularly to discuss ways AI can improve workflows, including automatically preparing account histories for sales calls.
For Gadea, the point isn’t to prove expertise. He said he frequently uses the term “imposter syndrome” to remind employees that the technology is new for everyone.
“You’re literally saying, ‘Hey guys, it’s OK. We’re all learning together,’” he said.
That framing—encouraging experimentation while still insisting employees absorb new skills—captures a fault line businesses are struggling with as AI starts rewriting the instruction manual for job categories such as software development. A new question is taking shape: who is responsible for making sure workers keep up?.
A recent survey by the management and technology consultancy Emergn found that about eight in 10 CEOs said employees should take responsibility for upskilling themselves. A similar share of employee respondents said companies should provide AI training.
The tension isn’t confined to one workplace. Workplace learning has long been a shared responsibility between employers and employees. About 60% of workplace learning tends to be self-directed through resources like articles and videos. said RJ Bannister. the chief operating officer at the executive compensation and corporate governance consultancy Farient Advisors. Another 30% comes from hands-on experience. including working with colleagues and on projects. and about 10% comes from formal training sessions. Bannister said.
Bannister said AI can make learning more efficient by letting people work through more topics in less time. But he added that workers still need to apply what they learned to make it stick.
He compared worker training and development to how a company spends money to maintain factory equipment. In his view, it’s also a way to make workers feel that when it comes to new technology like AI, “they’re a part of a solution, as opposed to just seeing it solely as a threat.”
AI training upskilling workplace learning Envoy Larry Gadea Emergn survey employee responsibility employer responsibility GoDark Denis Dariotis Kotter RJ Bannister Farient Advisors change management Slack learning software development