AI Is Moving Faster Than Leaders Are Getting to Know Their People

Gallup's Jim Harter reports a milestone no leader wants to see. In U.S. Employee Engagement Below 30% for First Time in 15 Years, he shows that only 29% of U.S. employees were engaged in the third quarter of 2026, the lowest level since 2011. Gallup estimates the drop since 2020 adds up to about 11 million fewer engaged workers. The findings come from a random sample of 21,648 adults in the Gallup Panel, surveyed in August.

The decline was sharpest among remote and hybrid employees, especially in organizations that have adopted AI. Gallup's conclusion is measured: AI adoption may be moving faster than the communication and manager support needed to make it work. That is a fair reading of the data. But the two items that drove the decline tell an even more human story.

The Two Numbers That Fell

Gallup found that engagement fell because of two specific experiences. The share of employees who strongly agree they know what is expected of them at work dropped from 49% in the first half of the year to 46%. And the share who strongly agree that their supervisor or someone at work cares about them as a person fell from 40% to 37%, well below its 47% peak in March 2020.

Read those two items together. People are less sure what their job is, and less sure anyone sees them as more than the job. That is not a technology problem. It is a leadership problem that technology is making visible.

When AI changes how work gets done, the old picture of each role starts to blur. Employees wonder which parts of their work still matter, how they will be judged and where they fit. Those are questions about identity as much as about tasks. If no one is helping them answer, they quietly pull back. I made a similar point about why people need to feel seen before they will follow a leader into the unknown in Your People Can't Follow a Leader Who Can't See Them.

Distance Makes It Easier Not to Look

Gallup raises the possibility that physical distance contributes to psychological distance. Engagement fell five points among fully remote employees and two points among hybrid employees, while changes among on-site workers were within the margin of error. The engagement advantage that AI-adopting organizations enjoyed among remote and hybrid workers in the second quarter had narrowed to about two points by the third.

I wouldn't read this as an argument against remote work. Plenty of remote teams are deeply connected. The issue is that distance removes the informal moments when a manager notices how someone is really doing. In an office, a leader can see the hesitation in a colleague's face during a meeting. On a screen, that signal is easy to miss unless you go looking for it. When work is also changing fast, the cost of missing it rises.

The Plan Is Only Half the Answer

Gallup's earlier research shows what helps. Engagement was 15 points higher in organizations that communicated a clear AI plan and 18 points higher where managers actively supported AI use. When frequent AI use, a clear plan and manager support were all present, engagement reached 53%. A clear plan is a valuable form of standardization. It gives everyone the same map and the same expectations, and the data shows it pays off.

But notice which factor mattered most: the manager. Gallup recommends clarifying AI expectations by role, equipping managers to support their people and tracking AI's impact alongside engagement. All three are sound. The piece I would add is that the manager's job isn't only to explain the tool. It is to help each person understand what they uniquely bring as the work changes, so the role is redesigned around them rather than simply stripped down. I explored that idea in Recompose the Role Around the Person, Not Just the Work.

What Leaders Can Do This Week

Ask each person on your team one question: what part of your work do you most want to protect as AI changes your job? Their answer tells you what they value and where they see their own worth.

Write down, for each remote or hybrid team member, one thing you know about them that has nothing to do with their output. If you can't, schedule a conversation that isn't about a deliverable.

When you explain a new AI expectation, explain the person's place in it too. A clear plan tells people what to do. Only a leader can tell them why they still matter.

For professionals: if you have lost clarity about what is expected of you, don't wait for your manager to notice. Ask directly, and share what you believe you bring that no tool can replace.

The engagement numbers will recover when people feel known again, not when the next tool rolls out.

Technology can change the work overnight, but people stay engaged only when someone helps them see where they still fit.

Want to explore these ideas further? Learn more about my work on leadership, identity and conviction at www.theglennllopis.com.