Case Study
Productivity at Work 2026 Executive Summary
An executive summary examining the productivity paradox: balancing high employee AI adoption with governance, ROI measurement, and financial controls. Uncover key benchmarks on AI tool adoption, shadow AI spend, financial bottlenecks, and how modern leaders build governance that scales productivity.
- Topic
- Business Solutions
- Published
- 22 Jul 2026
Modern businesses face intense pressure to modernize operations quickly without destabilizing internal controls. While artificial intelligence has rapidly become central to the enterprise efficiency agenda, high adoption rates have introduced a complex "productivity paradox", where adoption is soaring, but enterprise-wide measurement, literacy, and governance are still lagging behind.
The 2026 Productivity at Work report by Soldo offers executive research and data-driven insights into how forward-thinking finance and operational leaders are turning fragmented AI usage into measurable, board-defensible performance.
Key Highlights:
High Employee Productivity Sentiments: 88% of employees state that AI tools have successfully improved their productivity at work.
Executive Strategic Alignment: 83% of finance leaders consider AI investments essential for hitting overall business targets.
Usability & Skill Barriers: 58% of employees find current AI tools difficult to navigate, and 57% lack clarity on how AI should improve their specific tasks.
Support Deficit: 63% of workers are expected to leverage AI without receiving adequate organizational support or practical training.
Finance Team Friction: 36% of finance leaders cite limited finance automation as a top productivity barrier, while 35% blame slow financial processes.
Employee Operational Delays: 29% of employees state that sluggish finance workflows have actively delayed or disrupted their work progress.
Low Spending Process Clarity: Only 31% of staff describe their company's spending and expense processes as straightforward.
Prevalence of Shadow AI: 27% of employees have purchased AI tools using unapproved, non-standard purchasing channels.
Governance Deficit: Only 27% of finance leaders report that AI purchasing and deployment are fully governed in their organization.
Board-Level ROI Challenge: Just 24% of finance leaders feel fully equipped to measure, prove, and defend AI returns to executive boards.
Expanded Finance Responsibility: 73% of finance leaders state that finance is directly responsible for overseeing AI performance and investment return.