Charter survey shows executives trust AI over their own judgment more often than U.S. workers

Traders Union
All News
Business & Wealth
Executives trust AI over judgment

Highlights

Charter's August survey of 5,002 U.S. office workers found 32.8% of executives trust AI over their own judgment, compared to 16.3% of individual contributors.
Executives exhibit higher reliance on AI for decision-making, linked to cognitive offloading and pressure for rapid solutions across complex issues.
42.7% of surveyed AI users report improved work and personal life quality, while qualitative interviews reveal growing worker concerns about job displacement as AI capabilities increase.

Survey findings on workplace decision-making

As reported by Axios, citing Charter, 32.8% of executives say they trust AI more than their own judgment, compared with 16.3% of individual contributors. The gap also appears among managers, with 34.8% saying they place more trust in AI than in their own assessment.

The workplace research and media company surveyed 5,002 U.S. office workers in August at businesses with at least 100 employees who say they use AI at work. That group included 2,952 individual contributors, 1,547 managers and 503 executives, including vice presidents, C-suite executives, owners and founders.

The report links the pattern to what its coauthors call cognitive offloading, or using AI tools to reduce mental effort. They say executives, despite having the most experience, are showing that tendency more than other groups in the survey.

Pressure on leaders and wider workplace tension

Brian Elliott, a coauthor of the report and executive-in-residence at Charter, says senior leaders often face intense pressure to produce fast answers across a wide range of issues, making AI appealing in the short term. He says the technology can reinforce a tendency among some executives to project certainty and speed, even when the underlying work is more complex.

Elliott points to examples of technology leaders using AI to create product prototypes quickly, then expecting teams to convert them into working products without fully accounting for the additional effort required. He says AI performs well at generating executive-level summaries, but is less reliable when workers need precise answers to specific operational problems.

The report notes that the survey reflects self-reported trust in AI rather than confirmed use of AI recommendations in major decisions. It also presents a broader positive view of workplace AI, with 42.7% of AI users saying the technology improves both their work and personal lives.

At the same time, separate qualitative interviews with 91 workers highlight tension around job displacement. Researchers say workers become more aware of how much can be automated as their AI skills improve, while executives are largely insulated from that concern.

In our earlier article on KPMG’s CEO survey about AI agents, we noted that many large U.S. companies are reporting efficiency and growth gains, even though only a small share of CEOs currently view AI agents as truly transformational. The survey also highlighted that leaders expect continued AI investment alongside hiring and retraining efforts, suggesting AI is reshaping work gradually rather than through immediate, sweeping disruption.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.