Microsoft: 78% of Koreans fear being left behind on AI, but only 16% say management has a clear strategy

Microsoft releases 2026 Work Trend Index, highlighting shift in how people work

54% of Koreans say AI has improved their output, but only 16% say management's AI strategy is clear

Microsoft urges companies to embed AI through tools like Copilot Cowork

Jo Won-woo, president of Microsoft Korea, speaks at a media briefing on the 2026 Work Trend Index. [Cha Min-ju]

One in two Koreans is using AI agents to produce higher-quality work than before, but organizational systems are failing to keep pace — and roughly eight in 10 workers fear being left behind on AI adoption, according to a new survey.

Microsoft held a media briefing Monday at its Korea headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to release the findings of its 2026 Work Trend Index. The report draws on a survey of 20,000 knowledge workers across 10 markets, anonymized Microsoft 365 productivity data and insights from experts in AI, workplace dynamics and organizational psychology.

The report found that 54 percent of Koreans said they are producing higher-quality work using AI agents than they were a year ago. At the same time, 78 percent said they fear falling behind if they do not adapt quickly, while only 16 percent said their organization's leadership has a clear AI strategy — reflecting a sharp disconnect between individual adoption and organizational readiness.

The report said that as AI becomes directly embedded in workflows, the way people work is shifting toward a model that combines humans, AI agents and systems.

The data also pointed to a meaningful shift toward higher-value work. Globally, 66 percent of AI users said they are spending more time on high-value tasks as a result of using AI. Another 58 percent said they are producing work that would have been difficult to achieve a year ago.

In Korea, 54 percent of respondents said they are producing better work than before, a figure that climbed to 75 percent among what the report calls "frontier workers" — those who use AI most intensively. Microsoft said frontier workers account for 12 percent of the Korean workforce surveyed.

The report said many organizational systems still cannot keep up with the pace at which individuals are adopting AI. Globally, 65 percent of respondents said they fear being left behind if they fail to adapt quickly, yet only 26 percent said their leadership's AI direction is clear and consistent.

That gap was even wider in Korea. While 78 percent of Korean employees expressed a sense of urgency about falling behind, only 16 percent said they were satisfied with their organization's AI strategy.

The report said companies that rapidly absorb signals from the front lines, share them across the organization and reflect them in operations will gain a competitive edge. In other words, embedding AI at the organizational level is what will determine business performance.

Microsoft also used the briefing to announce the latest product updates designed to help organizations embed AI more deeply.

Copilot Cowork connects people and agents within a single workflow, extending individual AI tasks into coordinated, organization-wide processes. Microsoft said the tool also supports the development of custom plugins tailored to each organization's specific workflows.

The company also highlighted Microsoft Agent 365, which provides the management and governance capabilities required in enterprise environments, enabling organizations to safely deploy and scale AI agents across core business functions including sales, service and operations.

chami@heraldcorp.com