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Increase AI adoption after buying licenses
Short answer
Low use of AI licences comes from missing skills, the wrong tool, no access to data or the way work is organised. First check what stops people on a specific task. With 40 seats at $25 and 4 in 10 unused, the company pays €357 a month for empty accounts. A rollout for a team of up to 40 people costs €2,300 net at Syntalith and pays back in 1 month when 16 people save an hour a week.
- net per day of closed training for the team
- from €1,150
- people in one training group
- up to 15
- after this time, we measure the effect on the same tasks
- 30 days
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Author: Syntalith · 3 min read
Statistics
AI use in companies: statistics 2026
€357
a month is what unused licences cost when 4 in 10 of 40 seats at $25 stand empty. Scenario.
78%
According to Microsoft's Work Trend Index (2024), 78% of AI users bring their own AI tools to work.
Source: Microsoft and LinkedIn, Work Trend Index 2024 (2024) ↗
52%
According to Microsoft's Work Trend Index (2024), 52% of people who use AI at work are reluctant to admit using it for their most important tasks.
Source: Microsoft and LinkedIn, Work Trend Index 2024 (2024) ↗
15.1%
According to Eurostat (2025), 15.1% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU used generative AI tools for work.
59%
According to Microsoft's Work Trend Index (2024), 59% of leaders worry about quantifying the productivity gains of AI.
Source: Microsoft and LinkedIn, Work Trend Index 2024 (2024) ↗
Figures checked: 22 October 2026
Four causes behind one symptom
A view of active accounts says little about value. One employee may open the tool often and get no useful results, while another uses it rarely, but on a task that used to take half a week. „I have no time for AI” can mean that checking the result takes long, that there is no approved data, or fear of being judged.
| What you observe | What to check | A possible response |
|---|---|---|
| The employee does not start | Access, data rules, whether the task makes sense | Removing an organisational obstacle |
| Tries and gives up | Quality of the result and the time spent on corrections | Practice on the task or a different tool |
| A few people use it, the rest do not | Differences between roles, the manager's support | A programme for specific groups |
| Use grows, the effect does not | Quality of the whole process | A change of task or of the criterion |
78%
bring their own AI
AI users who bring their own AI tools to work.
52%
keep it quiet
People who use AI at work and are reluctant to admit using it for their most important tasks.
59%
worry about measuring
Leaders who worry about quantifying the productivity gains of AI.
Source: Work Trend Index 2024, a survey of 31,000 people in 31 countries, published on 8 May 2024.
What empty accounts cost and what practice gives back
- Licences
- 40 × $25 = $1,000 (€892) a month
- Unused
- 40% = €357 a month
- After the programme 16 people save 1 h a week
- 69.3 h (€2,418)
Payback of a €2,300 rollout
1.0 month
The share of unused accounts and the saving are the scenario's assumptions, which we check by timing before the programme and after 30 days. €34.90 an hour is the EU average hourly labour cost for 2025 according to Eurostat. A Standard seat with monthly billing, at the ECB rate of 1.1205 USD per euro on 22 October 2026.
Not every employee needs to use AI every day. For some roles fewer accounts or access for a set period is justified, and the seats you free up lower the bill from the next period.
Choose work the participant will come back to tomorrow
A good exercise is frequent, has a recognisable result and a person who can judge it: a service reply, a comparison of supplier quotes, a first draft of a comment on a report. Do not start with a task whose correctness nobody can establish.
- 01CauseA conversation over the most recent task where the employee gave up on AI.
- 02TaskChoosing work they will come back to tomorrow, with a person who judges it.
- 03PracticeA series of sessions with cases from work, more than one demonstration.
- 04MeasurementTime, errors and returns for correction before the programme and after 30 days.
A manager needs criteria for judging, a specialist practises the work, and the process owner decides when a result can be passed on.
How to measure change without mistaking it for activity
Watch access, use and quality separately. An account can be active without the result improving, and a better result can appear without more activity. If people have started using AI privately, growing activity outside the approved environment does not meet the programme's goal. A report of accounts and seats is prepared by licence utilisation reporting automation.
If an employee still moves data between systems by hand, another training session adds less and less value, and it is worth comparing process automation. In a team programme we agree the roles, tasks, materials and assessment. To start, prepare a list of roles, tools and three situations in which employees give up on AI.
