Sophistication in GenAI Use: Field Evidence from a Large Firm
Why some employees get far more out of AI than others
Researchers analyzed over 700,000 AI prompts from nearly 4,000 back-office employees at a large firm and found that seniority and job function—not training programs—predict how effectively people use AI. Senior workers and those in strategy-focused roles asked more sophisticated questions and got better results, while generic AI training courses produced no lasting improvement in how people worked.
Companies spending millions on AI training for their workforce may be wasting money if those programs don't address how employees' actual domain knowledge shapes their AI use. The findings suggest managers should focus on matching AI tools to senior experts and strategic teams rather than rolling out one-size-fits-all training—and that simply teaching people to use AI tools matters far less than what they already know about their work.