Kevin SuraceKevin Surace is an AI pioneer, inventor, author, and human effectiveness authority helping people thrive while AI reshapes work and life.

The Biggest Threat to AI Adoption Isn’t the Technology

17 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this commentary, Kevin Surace argues that the main obstacle to successful AI adoption in workplaces is not the technology itself but cultural resistance among employees. He cites a recent survey showing that 31% of employees actively sabotage AI projects, accounting for 80% of rollout failures, through tactics such as claiming AI doesn’t work or deliberately feeding it broken data. Additionally, 53% of workers fear AI will take their jobs, leading them to resist or undermine AI initiatives. Surace emphasizes that long‑standing work habits and fear of job loss create a culture that resists change, and that overcoming this cultural barrier is essential for AI to deliver its promised benefits.

Chapters

1 in 3 employees is actively sabotaging AI at work. Here's why. The holdup of rolling out AI in amazing ways will not be the AI. It will be the people, because culture doesn't change overnight and in fact doesn't want to change at all. People don't want to change. This is their culture. This is the job they've done for 22 years. They don't want to change. And last year there was a survey that bore that out. 31% of people are sabotaging 80% of AI rollouts. 31% sabotage 80% of AI rollouts, and they're sabotaging them in a number of ways, including telling the boss it doesn't work, and they're They're putting stuff in there that's broken, and it's just absolutely amazing. It's head-scratching crazy. So it gets back to culture again. People are scared. 53% of people say they're scared that AI is going to take their job and they don't want to help it along. No employee, no employee will eliminate their own job by promoting AI.