The Unlock:
Our Data and Insights.

Generative AI has moved into the workplace faster than most organizations have been able to prepare for it. In July 2025, idealis, a human-centered research and advisory firm, began tracking how U.S. workers were experiencing GenAI adoption at work. One year later, the data tells a consistent story: adoption is rising fast, concern is also rising at a similar pace, and less than fifty percent of workers have any real guidance for how to use the technology responsibly. The rapid adoption of AI in the U.S. workforce is revealing and amplifying what is already present within organizations, the strengths and the weaknesses. Where there is trust, AI adoption will reflect that trust, where there is a lack of clarity, it will expose that too. AI does not create gaps in a company’s culture or leadership; it exposes the ones that already exist, at scale and at speed.

AI joined nearly every team this year, and almost nobody onboarded it. Tools arrived faster than anyone could evaluate them, and the instinct to keep the machine at arm's length made real instruction feel unnecessary, until the output came back generic and the promise went unmet. In this Insights in Practice brief, Allison Williams, Chief Learning Officer at idealis, shares firsthand lessons on what changes when AI is given the same onboarding we give a new hire. Drawing on her background in organizational learning, she walks through the steps most organizations skipped and three practical ways to onboard it well.

Rest is the one place almost every leader feels a gap. Long hours, a culture that glorifies hustle, and the quiet belief that our productivity is our identity all make rest the first thing we sacrifice, often until the body forces the issue. In this Insights in Practice brief, Alissa Manolescu, Director of Leadership at idealis, shares firsthand lessons on what rest actually means beyond sleep. Drawing on her work coaching leaders, she explores the seven distinct types of rest and three simple practices that make slowing down feel safe, and sustainable.

Healthcare workers are leading AI adoption while opting out of leadership. New idealis research on the trust gap and what closing it requires.