Lenny's Polls
How has AI changed how you feel about your job?
Most people feel better about their jobs with the rise of AI, but at the same time, a majority feel less secure in their role.
The tl;dr
- 61% feel better about their job thanks to AI, but 55% feel less secure. People love what AI lets them build and how much faster they can move. But many are watching AI take on more of their role and wondering what's left.
- 62% say they're more productive, but only 11% say their workload decreased. Productivity gains aren't translating into less work. They're translating into more ambitious work.
- The higher up you are, the better AI feels. Senior leaders average 4.0/5, ICs average 3.49/5. The gap likely comes down to agency: leaders choose their tools and set the pace.
What the data shows
Has AI changed how secure you feel in your role?
Has AI changed how fulfilling your work feels?
56% say work is more fulfilling, but 55% feel less secure. Many respondents reported both: they find the work more interesting and engaging, while simultaneously feeling less certain about their long-term role. AI is making daily work better and career prospects scarier at the same time. If you're a leader, the trick is going to be continuing to enable AI-native workflows while assuaging concerns over long-term prospects, the anxiety, and the uncertainty in long-term role trajectories.
Which of these describe how AI has changed your workload?
Productivity has gone up, but workload hasn't gone down. 62% say they're more productive, but only 11% say their workload has actually decreased. Part of this is organizational: 37% say they're doing their old work plus new AI responsibilities on top. But part of it is self-inflicted: 49% say they're spending extra time experimenting with AI or keeping up with the pace of change, not because they have to, but because the work is compelling or because falling behind feels risky. Both ICs and leaders should shift some focus to calibrated prioritization, to figure out how AI-human collaboration, new capabilities, and a markedly different pace of work should impact expectations and workload. Also, some things haven't changed, like the risk of burnout while working at a blazingly rapid cadence.
Which best describes the primary way AI adoption is happening at your company?
Only about a third of companies are providing coordinated AI support. 38% describe their company's AI adoption as "top-down, supportive." The remaining 62% split among restrictive mandates (16%), bottom-up individual experimentation (18%), and a messy middle with energy but no direction (26%). We can't say from this data whether workers want more leadership involvement, but we can see that most companies are still in an uncoordinated situation when it comes to AI.
More patterns
Enterprise companies (5,001+) are the one segment where AI has barely moved job sentiment. Their average is 3.08, essentially "no real change," a full point below the smallest companies (4.11 for 2-10 employees). Larger companies are more likely to fall into the "restrictive" or "messy middle" adoption categories. If you're running AI strategy at a large org, this is a leading indicator of whether your rollout is working for people or just checking a box.
Long-tenured employees feel the most positive. Mid-tenure employees feel the least. People with 11+ years at their company average 4.0/5, the highest of any tenure group. Those with 3-5 years average 3.35/5, the lowest. Long-tenured employees have deep institutional knowledge that AI amplifies. Mid-tenure employees may sit in a more exposed spot: experienced enough to have an established workflow, not senior enough to direct AI strategy.
Themes
Themes from open-ended responses. Click any to see quotes.
What feels better
1
I can build things now
62
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"I'm a Founder of a business, originally a designer. I'm finally able to build what's in my head."
Founder/Design/Product/Builder/Dev · Just me
"I can now do a lot more. For eg. I now use Cursor to instrument posthog analytics myself, which earlier I would have to work with an engineer for."
Product Manager · 2–10
"I have been able to go from writing PRDs and doing a lot of project management to shipping features end-to-end, using AI to assist me not only in discovery, but also in transcribing calls, writing specs for critique, creating UI/UX designs, live prototypes, and then end-to-end coding, including spinning backends, and going to production."
Founder and CEO of Escape Velocity Labs · 2–10
2
Tedious work disappears
48
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"The biggest impact for me is the ability to delegate low-level tedious tasks and the capacity that frees for me to think more creatively, more mindfully, more thoughtfully about some of the more challenging and interesting parts of what I do"
Senior PM · 11–50
"I get a lot more done and don't have to spend as much time on mundane tasks."
Engineering Director · 51–250
"handles the boring tasks I dislike and enables me to focus on high leverage stuff"
Forward deployed engineer · 11–50
3
Dramatically faster output
44
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"I can do things in days that normally took me months to finish"
Research and development consultant · 11–50
"Speed to create things has gone through the roof"
Founder & CEO · Just me
"Can get more code changes in per unit time, and tackle things that would have never made the roadmap due to being "too big"!"
CTO · 11–50
4
An always-on thought partner
30
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"I feel that I now have a thought partner to clarify my thinking and writing. I feel like I have superpowers because I can build tools I couldn't before."
VP of strategy & operations · 51–250
"It enables faster research, faster prototyping (both in things built with code, and with no-code tools) and it's an excellent thinking/writing partner."
COO of a software development studio · 51–250
"in a remote environment, AI helps me brainstorm and avoid the white paper aversion when starting new strategy docs"
Staff Product Manager · 5,001+
5
Expanded role and capabilities
28
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"I've become a builder, product owner, designer and engineer all in one..."
AI Insights Manager · 1,001–5,000
"I've always been a multifunctional thinker and it feels like I finally have the tools that let me express that instead of being bucketed into one function."
Head of customer marketing · 1,001–5,000
"I can wear more hats (eg prototyping, deeper data analysis). I delegate less to other cross functional peers and more to AI."
Principal PM · 1,001–5,000
6
Renewed excitement and energy
22
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"Makes work more fun, engaging, and empowering - there is this childlike sense of wonder in seeing ideas come to life quickly, and accomplishing things that would have taken significantly longer before."
Senior PM · 251–1,000
"More exploration and experimentation. Having been in my role for 8 years, it's fun to feel like there's something to learn again."
Director of Research & Strategy · 2–10
"I have learned a new skill, which is amazing, and I feel so motivated and I am so into new improvements. I feel empowered also to do things that I was not able to do."
Co-founder and CEO of a small health tech startup · 2–10
What feels worse
1
Job security anxiety
26
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"less need for headcount, livelihoods are at real risk, not sure I like where this ultimately is heading even with drastic upskilling in the field of AI. Concerned about the societal impact if things keep growing at the pace they currently are"
Lead Product Manager · 1,001–5,000
"It has demolished my resources and accelerated layoffs. I can no longer get headcount."
Group product manager · 5,001+
"It's had minor impact on my day-to-day other than knowing lots of leadership folks think that research can be replaced by AI, and that's impacting the availability of UX jobs."
Senior UX researcher · 251–1,000
2
Pressure to do more
22
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"Feels like the intensity has increased. Am expected to be way more productive"
Head of Growth · 11–50
"As a consultant, tasks I used to be hired for are now outsourced to AI. Clients expect me to do more with less faster."
Startup GTM advisor · Just me
"I can move a lot faster, do things I could never do before (code, data), and that just increases my overall output. You can call it an efficiency gain but I don't work less, I just do more (at least it feels that way)."
Head of Growth · 51–250
3
Can't keep up
20
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"Too much to learn. Too little time to think of how to implement the learnings. Even less time to actually implement."
VP tech · 51–250
"Have to learn a lot more, a lot more quickly."
Consultant · 2–10
"Learning a new language while trying to run the business, in that new language. exhausting."
VP of Design · 251–1,000
4
AI slop everywhere
16
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"People using AI to write documents without reviewing them and they don't make sense."
Product Manager · 5,001+
"It's made junior talent worse. Over reliant on it and they don't improve cause they can't think for themselves. I review AI slop instead of thoughtful junior work."
Vice president · 51–250
"Spending a lot more time trying to figure out what is real and what is AI bullshit"
Chief Product Officer · 51–250
5
Deep thinking eroded
14
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"Took away deep problem solving and thinking and user centricity and everything became about a working prototype"
Product designer · 5,001+
"The work we do suddenly feels archaic in a world that's moving so fast. Even when we use AI, it feels like we're doing archaic tasks faster instead of building the future."
Sr. PM · 5,001+
"it also increased my anxiety level associated with being good at my job by miles."
Lead product manager · 11–50
6
Leadership getting it wrong
12
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"My biggest way is how I'm managed. Every detail I deliver my boss runs through his prompt to find weaknesses. Every word I say he puts into gpt to double check. My feedback is ChatGPT, the ideas I get are ChatGPT - and they aren't reviewed. I get just a copy paste."
Head of product and ops · 11–50
"It's not even AI itself; it's the culture around it. It's a rare intersection of: 1) people who are extremely performative, and 2) people who are really good at BS-ing. And it's tough to see that behavior get rewarded when it doesn't feel authentic or genuine"
Senior UX Researcher · 5,001+
"It made me and my team members more productive, but I feel that it has led to more budget cuts in the Engineering team"
VP of Engineering · 251–1,000
Who responded