The generation gap for AI usage is costing companies $56 billion in productivity annually

Are generational clashes the biggest problem your company isn’t paying attention to? While older folks have had to adapt to a rapidly changing tech space over the last couple of decades, a younger cohort has been born into it.

A study from newly-formed revenue orchestration company Clari + Salesloft is diving into the topic—specifically AI usage—and finding the generational divide comes at a pretty penny. According to the report, companies are on average losing $56 billion in productivity annually due to growing generational divides based on AI usage.

The survey shows that 85% of respondents using AI-enabled tools think the technology is improving their performance, however 64% say they aren’t using the full capabilities available to them—that number jumps to 75% among the baby boomers surveyed.

“Employees in revenue-generating roles should be one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI, but right now it’s becoming a divider instead of a multiplier,” said Clari + Salesloft CEO Steve Cox in a statement. “When AI is implemented intentionally, it aligns how work gets done and raises the floor for everyone, not just the early adopters.”

Love-hate relationship

The survey shows a divide in how employees view AI. On one hand, employees are boasting the benefits like improving work-life balance (85%), helping close deals (76%), increasing pipeline generation (73%), and facilitating prioritization among tasks (84%).

On the flip side, AI is posing more challenges than benefits for some respondents, namely the 70% of baby boomers who said they aren’t fully satisfied with the AI tools provided by their companies to boost sales performance.

Some of the challenges raised include difficulties integrating AI tools with existing workflows (36%), limited customization (25%), weak reporting and lack of actionable insights (19%), poor mobile functionality (18%), and difficulty of use (14%).

The generational divide

The different generations don’t view each other fondly, according to the report.

Among boomers, 86% feel that Gen Z’s tech-first approach hinders their relationship building skills. Additionally, 77% think it lacks strategic thinking, 66% think the approach isn’t appropriate for complex deals, and 60% think it destroys customer relationships.

Gen Z respondents think baby boomer resistance to technology is slowing them down, making them less efficient (77%), slowing the sales process (70%), killing innovation (64%), and affecting their ability to close deals (63%).

The cost of conflict

If the $56 billion in productivity compromised wasn’t enough of a staggering figure, the report shows that misalignment among generations affects many aspects of a company:

• It causes miscommunications (39%).
• It creates more stress and lowers morale (29%).
• It makes collaboration on deals or accounts harder (26%).
• It leads to missed opportunities or slower deal cycles (23%).
• It leads to duplicated work or extra work (21%).

While the numbers are noteworthy, hope is not lost. As more revenue leaders and executives become comfortable with AI, they will feel the need to implement best practices to integrate it into existing workflows, while avoiding relying too much or too little on the tools.

The report also suggests that revenue leaders should leverage the strengths of each generation—making sure employees feel seen for their strengths and creating a bridge between the generational gap.