Prudential Financial, Inc. has recently unveiled fresh results of its continuous 2026 Benefits & Beyond research series, showing a rapidly widening gap between companies’ excitement for artificial intelligence and employees’ willingness to adopt AI-driven benefits support.
The study reveals that firms are becoming more and more open to AI-based solutions that can make benefits education and decision-making easier. At the same time, employee trust and use of such tools remain Greatly lower than what employers expect.
Only 58% of employees say they would be willing to use AI for benefits-related guidance, while just 24% report actively using such tools today, against the findings of the study that 83% of employers are interested in using AI to help employees understand and manage their workplace benefits better.
“AI can make benefits simpler, more personalized and easier to use, but employees won’t embrace it unless they trust it,” said Michael Estep, president of Prudential Group Insurance. “That means helping people understand how these tools work, how their data is protected, and how AI can strengthen the human support they still want and need when making important benefits decisions.”
Estep noted that employee benefits may represent one of the most practical opportunities for organizations to build trust in AI, particularly when helping workers navigate complex and highly personal decisions.
Employers Embrace AI Faster Than Employees
Aside from benefits management, the research showed a more global perception gap about AI in the workplace. This way, 78% of employers see AI as a good thing, but only 51% of employees concur. This 27-point difference tells that companies may have to overcome the barrier of convincing employees to use AI-powered work tools by maybe educating them more, being transparent, and building trust.
Also Read: Protex AI Introduces Certification Program to Help EHS Leaders Navigate Privacy-First Safety AI
Key Findings from “The Future of Work: Navigating Rapid AI Adoption While Building Employee Trust”
The research brings to light some of the biggest AI adoption patterns in employee benefits and workforce management:
- Trust and data privacy are still the biggest roadblocks: Nearly half of the employers (49%) and more than half of the employees (52%) consider privacy and security concerns as main barriers. Also, employees are way more prone to say that they generally don’t trust AI compared to employers (25% and 12%). Some other issues are accuracy, ethical implications, and the risk of job loss, etc.
- Use of AI differs by employee demographics: At the moment, unionized employees are the frontrunners in using AI for benefits guidance, 40% of them claim to have adopted AI. Then again, 27% of the employees who are on salary without influencing the household decision and 27% of the sole decision-making spouses use AI-driven benefits support, which is higher than some other workforce segments.
- Most employees strive for a situation: where data is shared with employers in return for a more personalized experience. Roughly 65% of employees admit that they are willing to let their employers handle their personal data to help generating targeted benefits offers. That percentage in the tech-oriented professional community goes up to 75%.
Personalization Creates Opportunity — Trust Determines Success
These results complement some of the findings in Prudential‘s 2024 Benefits & Beyond research which showed high employee interest in personalized benefits experiences. At that point, almost seven out of ten workers desired more individualized help during the open enrollment period, whereas about nine out of ten workers stated their willingness to share personal data like age, health conditions, family history, and tobacco usage to receive more targeted benefits recommendations.
Since AI technologies are becoming progressively capable of providing personalized guidance on a large scale, employee trust is starting to be the decisive factor that will determine whether these tools get widely used.
To get the most out of AI-powered benefits solutions, companies will have to make transparency, explainability, and employee education their top priorities to foster trust on how the technology operates and how personal data is safeguarded.
“Employee benefits is one of the clearest applications for AI given how complex and individual these decisions can be,” said Scott Roth, vice president and chief technology officer, Prudential Group Insurance. “Many employees still struggle to navigate their benefits options. AI can help simplify that, but they need confidence in the guidance they receive and how their information is handled. When that trust is in place, it can drive stronger engagement and better outcomes.”
This research highlights one of the most pressing issues employers will face in the new normal: how to find a balance between innovation and trust. Since AI is continuously revolutionizing work-related experiences, those companies that will be able to instruct their staff members and also set an example by showcasing responsible AI usage will be in a prime position to not only generate a deeper level of employee involvement, higher usage of benefits, and better results within the workforce but also gaining a competitive advantage.
For additional insights, readers can access the full 2026 Benefits & Beyond study and learn more about Prudential Group Insurance’s workplace benefits, absence management, and risk mitigation solutions.
