Quick look

• New Study from BCG Reveals 98% of respondents using GenAI for work in Nigeria agree GenAI has saved them time.
• Locally, 92% believe AI and GenAI will transform their job in the next 10 years.
• Employees’ confidence in AI and GenAI is growing, but half of regular users believe their job may disappear in the next decade
• Adoption of the technology in Nigeria has increased significantly over the past year, particularly with frontline employees, 17% of whom report using GenAI regularly at work

The sentiments of employees in Nigeria about AI and GenAI are evolving significantly, but cautious optimism endures, with 50% reporting confidence about the technologies’ impact on their work.

However, anxiety about the use of these technologies remains a prevailing feature with 15% of local respondents ranking this sentiment in their top two. 

These are among the findings of a new report being published today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Titled AI at Work: Friend and Foe, the study follows the firm’s inaugural AI at Work survey from last year and is based on a global survey of more than 13,000 employees in 15 countries and regions conducted by BCG X, BCG’s tech build and design division.

The survey’s respondents range from executive suite leaders to frontline employees who do not hold managerial positions, although most respondents work in office-based roles.

Looking at Nigeria, the report reveals that 98% of respondents using GenAI for work say that the technology has saved them time, 96% say that the technology has increased the speed at which they work on tasks and improved their quality of work, making their work more interesting and engaging (95%) and spared them time to focus on strategic work (94%).

At least 17% (43% globally) of frontline workers in the country report using GenAI regularly for work, although 28% (42% globally) of respondents believe that their job might not exist in the next 10 years due to the technology. The general sentiment is that AI and GenAI will transform jobs in the next 10 years, with 92% of respondents agreeing with this.

At least 12% of frontline workers in Nigeria say that they have received training on how GenAI will transform their jobs, against 41% of leaders in the country having received training on how the technology will impact or transform their jobs.

The survey was conducted at a critical phase in the maturation of GenAI, as companies move beyond pilots and start to integrate the technology into the fabric of their organizations.

Two-thirds of leaders globally (64%) say they are starting to implement GenAI tools to reshape their organisations.

Engagement with the technology has increased over the last year, particularly with frontline employees—more than twice as many reports using the tool regularly as did in 2023, and 43% of them do so for work.

“Nigeria is a unique country with a peculiar relationship with technology. Fear and curiosity reign simultaneously, as is evidenced by the results we are seeing in the report. Nigerian workers are cautiously adopting these technologies and although many are already enjoying the benefits, they remain anxious not just about using GenAI but also about the potential impact of these technologies to their work” said Adwoa Banful, Principal at BCG, Johannesburg: “These results are important and should offer a valuable springboard for how business leaders formulate strategies jointly with the evolving nature of GenAI and adoption across industries.”

Locally, companies have made notable strides in training their employees on GenAI. This could be improved of course, especially when looking at training for frontline employees which currently sits at just 12%, compared with 41% of leaders.

Doing this will contribute significantly to increased usage, with 71% of respondents reporting regular usage compared to the global average of 82%.

“As adoption of GenAI increases in the region, there is also a growing concern for the technology’s impact on jobs,” continues Adwoa. “Organisations need to carefully manage this environment and prioritise upskilling and reskilling of employees to ensure an effective, productive and just adoption of these technologies across industries.”

Interestingly, respondents from comparable countries such as Brazil, India, South Africa, and those in the Middle East were more consistently bullish and less anxious than respondents in mature markets about GenAI.

These countries have a higher proportion of regular users of GenAI at work among its leaders, managers, and frontline employees than the advanced economies markets.

Managers and frontline employees from the Global South were more likely than their peers in the Global North to have received GenAI training in the past year.

In the time freed up by using GenAI, Global South respondents were more likely to experiment with the tool, engage in professional development, and focus on the quality of their work.

The authors provide a set of five key recommendations for organizations as they continue their ongoing transformations built around GenAI:

• Establish a transformation-first mindset.
• Prioritise the management of all your transformations processes.
• Build training muscle at scale.
• Emphasize how GenAI can increase value creation and employee joy.
• Anticipate the evolution of roles, skills, operating model, data, and governance.

“Understandable human reactions to these technologies can pose challenges to companies as they continue on their GenAI journeys,” said Jeff Walters, a managing director and senior partner at BCG and a coauthor of the report. “But as we noted in last year’s report—and it still holds true this year—these are more change management challenges than technology challenges. And now is the time for organizations to double-down on their commitment to transformation built around GenAI.”