Pioneering study highlights how mindset - not just access - shapes AI enablement
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GAP) today announced new research conducted in partnership with Microsoft that offers a real-world look at how employees work with generative AI - and what it takes to unlock its full value.
The field study, conducted with 388 Gap Inc. employees across functions and job levels, tested how different approaches to AI adoption impact performance, collaboration, and mindset.
The findings point to a critical insight for organizations investing in AI: access to tools alone is not enough - how employees are trained to think and work with AI matters more.
Among the key findings:
- Employees who received AI Mindset training were twice as likely to produce top-quality work
- How organizations measure AI-augmented work matters - generic evaluation tools may miss differences in quality
- Teams required to follow rigid AI workflows scored nearly 5 points lower in document quality than those using AI naturalistically
These insights are shaping Gap Inc.’s AI strategy to enable, optimize, and reinvent the business - particularly through a focus on employee enablement. The company is investing in building AI fluency, embedding AI into workflows, and shifting mindset so employees work with AI as collaborators.
“Microsoft partnered with Gap Inc. because of the scale and diversity of its workforce and its leadership in applying AI in real-world settings,” said Alexia Cambon, a Director in Microsoft’s Office of Applied Research. “Developed with Conor Grennan, CEO of AI Mindset - this study offers empirical evidence that employees’ mindset toward AI drives outcomes. These insights will help shape how organizations operationalize AI at scale.”
“AI is already a durable part of how work gets done at Gap Inc., but this study makes one thing clear - value doesn’t come from access alone,” said Sven Gerjets, Chief Technology Officer, Gap Inc. “It comes from how our teams engage with the technology. That's why we're investing in enablement at scale - so every employee can use AI as a true thought partner."
As generative AI adoption accelerates, Gap Inc. believes there is a clear takeaway for leaders and organizations everywhere: AI is a long-term growth enabler - but only when paired with the right training, mindset, and operating model.