Research Drop in Brief:
- Managers are a catalyst of AI transformation as they bridge strategy and execution, but only 56% of managers feel they have the support they need to integrate AI agents into their work.
- Enabling managers during AI transforming scales impact as role modeling drives +17pp realized value of agentic AI, +22pp critical thinking on AI, and +30pp agentic AI trust.
- Managers who create psychological safety during this change are key, as employees who feel psychologically safe not only report up to +20pp higher AI readiness and AI impact, but they are also 1.4x as likely to be high frequency agentic AI users.
For the future of AI-integrated organizations, human-AI teaming is poised to become the default experience. To reach this future state, managers play a critical role. They serve as a bridge between strategy and execution, enabling scalable transformation where leaders and employees align around shared goals.
Traditionally, managers have guided teams through organizational shifts and changes1. But with the rise of AI, many companies are moving toward flatter structures, asking employees to do more with less by leveraging AI tools to meet productivity targets. This makes it essential to redesign the manager’s position to fit the needs of shifting organizations. Yet progress is lagging: recent research reveals a 66% gap between those who acknowledge the importance of reinventing the role of the middle manager and those who are making real progress in addressing it2.
This month’s Research Drop explores the evolving role of the manager in an AI-first organization – where they are best suited to play an active role within AI transformation, rather than a diminishing role.
Cementing the Purpose of Managers
Research consistently shows that managers are multipliers of positive change. When managers role model AI use, experimentation, and learning, team adoption and value accelerate. Employees who report their leadership encourages AI experimentation save 55% more time a day with AI than those who don’t3.
When it comes to integrating AI agents into team workflows, managers are optimistic:
- 73% believe AI agents will give teams a competitive advantage
- 62% are advocates of integrating AI agents
- 64% believe AI agents could help their team achieve new goals
But optimism alone is not enough to enable managers to drive change. Half of managers (50%) reported feeling overwhelmed by the idea of integrating AI agents, and 49% struggle to keep up with the pace of change surrounding AI agents. More than half (55%) have faced at least two burnout indicators at work in the past six months (e.g., overwhelming workload), and only 56% feel they have the support they need to integrate AI agents effectively.
With the right support, managers can translate organizational strategy into team-level execution, shaping culture and mindset around key changes. They can transform urgency into opportunity and guide their teams confidently through this new era. But increasing manager support must come first.
The Evolving Manager Role in the Era of Agentic AI
In the evolving role of the manager, we are reimagining the mindset, knowledge, and skills of managers from traditional management to management in the era of AI. Going from control to curiosity, operational know-how to systems intelligence, and from telling and delegating to role modeling and orchestrating.
But how and to what extent we can achieve these shifts relies on enabling managers through resources and upskilling opportunities and empowering them to create a culture of experimentation and psychological safety.
Enable Managers to Turn Knowledge into AI Impact
Managers are in a prime position to support role redesign and knowledge transfer on their teams. They have unique visibility into daily work activities and team skill sets, making them well suited to identify the most impactful agentic AI use cases and capabilities. With managers acting as translators, AI impact can truly flourish.
However, managers aren’t getting the support they need. Fewer than two-thirds say they have the tools and resources (62%) or the opportunity (60%) to integrate AI agents into their work. Organizations are missing a critical opportunity – recent research shows that people managers are the least commonly targeted groups when it comes to training opportunities, chosen by fewer than 5% of leaders4.
This lack of training depth is limiting managers’ ability to codify and create processes around AI for their teams:
- Only 20% of managers have created prompt libraries or “how-to” guides
- Just 19% have provided 1:1 coaching or mentoring on AI use
Providing managers with the right training and resources enables them to transfer knowledge, build confidence, and establish repeatable practices for their teams, but less than 30% of managers have attended training on AI in the past six months. This suggests that a gap is emerging on manager-specific upskilling opportunities. When this investment does exist, it can create a foundation for lasting impact, where AI adoption is a continuous advantage rather than a one-time shift. Organizations should design for scalability, where manager support moves beyond ad-hoc resources to structured programs that help managers grow.
Leading by Example to Drive AI Success
When preparing their teams to integrate AI and agents into workflows, managers can adopt a coach/player mindset. They not only need to communicate enterprise-wide changes clearly and empathetically, but they must also integrate those changes themselves. And the more transparently they do it, the better.
Transparency accelerates upskilling and peer learning as teams design their day-to-day work. In our study, two ways managers showed up for their teams were by proactively sharing success stories (31%) and running small trial projects/experiments (31%). Active participation in AI transformation builds comfort and confidence for employees.
And when leaders role model, the impact is clear. For those who agree that their leaders role model effective AI use, they see:
- +17pp uplift in realized value from agentic AI
- +22pp increase in critical thinking about AI
- +30pp boost in trust in agentic AI
Organizations should empower managers to be effective role models. Provide them the time, tools, and frameworks to experiment openly and share learnings back with their team. Managers can help their teams to set short-term goals around re-designing workflows and systems, managing dependencies, and facilitating connection points between tools. They can also formalize experimentation processes, such as building reflection into team rituals and rewarding insight generation as much as outcomes. When managers lead by example, they don’t just drive adoption – they lay the groundwork for trust, learning, and continuous improvement.
Building Psychological Safety into AI Integration
With any change comes tension and uneasiness as teams adapt to new expectations and ways of working. This is where psychological safety becomes critical. A manager’s role in fostering psychological safety creates an environment where employees embrace a growth mindset, take smart risks, and trust their team – building resilience in the face of change.
When it comes to AI, psychological safety also drives adoption. Employees who feel psychologically safe are 1.4x as likely to be high-frequency agentic AI users. They feel comfortable experimenting and asking questions. And when psychological safety is present, employees report greater readiness to integrate AI agents and perceive stronger impact.
Managers can foster psychological safety by creating human–AI teaming norms, clarifying roles between humans and AI, and encouraging open dialogue. They can create spaces for employees to speak up, ask questions, and learn from each other. Yet only 41% of employees say they’re asked for feedback on their AI experience in weekly team meetings – a missed opportunity for shared learning. Managers may want to make these conversations routine to build a culture of trust and collaboration.
Managers can guide teams to harness AI technology in ways that amplify human potential and create lasting impact. When organizations invest in manager enablement, they unlock a ripple effect: stronger role modeling, greater psychological safety, and faster team adoption and impact. The future of AI-integrated work depends on managers leading with confidence, transparency, and trust to move AI from a tool to a true competitive advantage.
Stay tuned for our December Research Drop to keep up with what the Microsoft People Science team is learning!
This month’s Research Drop analyzed 1,800 global employees from the Microsoft People Science Agentic Teaming & Trust Survey from July 2025, including 819 leaders (C-Suite, VP, Director), 520 managers, 461 individual contributors.
References
2Deloitte. (March 24, 2025). Is there still value in the role of managers?
Microsoft