92% of Young Professionals Say AI Boosts Their Confidence at Work

Google's 'Young Leaders' study reveals what the next generation actually wants from AI, and it's not what you'd expect.

Here's something that might surprise you. The biggest way young professionals are using AI at work isn't writing emails faster or crunching spreadsheets. It's building confidence.Google Workspace just released their second annual "Young Leaders" study, conducted by the Harris Poll, and the findings tell us a lot about where work is heading, particularly for those of us watching AI adoption across Asia where many of the same generational dynamics are playing out at even faster speed.

The study surveyed more than 1,000 full-time knowledge workers in the US aged 22 to 39 who hold, or aspire to hold, leadership positions. And while the US-centric data has its limits, the patterns are remarkably consistent with what we're seeing in Singapore, KL, Bangkok, and beyond.

So what are these young leaders actually doing with AI?

AI as Career Coach, Not Just Productivity Tool

The headline number is striking. 92% of respondents said AI has increased confidence in their professional skills. Not productivity. Not efficiency. Confidence.

That's a much more human outcome than most AI narratives would have you believe.

Dig into the detail and it gets more interesting. 72% have used AI to answer a question they were hesitant to ask a colleague or manager. 71% have received advice for important professional conversations. And 69% have used AI to prepare for a career move, interview, or job transition.

In other words, they're using AI as a thinking partner, a sounding board, and yes, a career coach.

"A lot of times you might do this with other people on your team, but sometimes people aren't just there when you need, on the fly or whenever is convenient for you, or sometimes you might be so early-stage that you just want to do a little bit privately," said Yulie Kwon Kim, VP of Product at Google Workspace.

That resonates. Anyone who's worked in a fast-moving Asian startup or regional team knows the feeling of needing a second opinion at 11pm on a Sunday, or wanting to pressure-test an idea before sharing it with the boss. AI fills that gap without the politics.

Fiona Mark, principal analyst at Forrester, put it well: "These AI coaches aim to offer a safe place to practice certain leadership skills for users, at scale, and make learning more interactive and valuable."

The key phrase there is "safe place." No judgment, no office dynamics, no worrying about looking stupid. Just a space to think and improve.

Personalisation Is the New Baseline

Here's where it gets really interesting for anyone building or choosing AI tools.

92% of the young leaders surveyed said they want AI with personalisation capabilities. Not generic outputs. Not one-size-fits-all responses. They want AI that knows their writing style, understands their calendar, and connects to their actual workflow.

And 90% said they'd use AI more at work if it were increasingly personalised.

This is a significant shift from even twelve months ago. We've moved past the "wow, it can write an email" phase into "why doesn't it write emails the way I actually talk?"

As Kwon Kim noted: "There are so many different tools that can generate an email reply or just generate something, but in order for AI to be truly useful in someone's everyday work, it needs to be personalized."

What's even more telling is that 77% of respondents described themselves as "active designers" of their AI workflows, and 85% said they were confident in their ability to personalise their AI systems. These aren't passive users waiting for IT to set things up. They're building their own workflows.

For those of us in Asia where workplace hierarchies can sometimes discourage that kind of initiative, this is a signal worth paying attention to. The next generation of leaders won't just use AI. They'll shape it around themselves.

The Confidence Gap Still Exists

Now, before we get too optimistic, let's add some context.

This study specifically targeted people who either hold or aspire to leadership positions. These are, by definition, the early adopters, the ambitious ones, the people most likely to lean into new tools.

The broader picture is more complicated. A recent Pew Research study found that a median of 34% of adults globally say they're more concerned than excited about AI. In countries like the US, Italy, Australia, Brazil, and Greece, that figure jumps to roughly half.

And then there's the "work slop" problem. Research from BetterUp Labs and Stanford Social Media Lab found that 40% of respondents had received obviously AI-generated work in the past month, and half viewed those who submitted it as less creative, reliable, and capable. The shame of being caught using AI badly is real.

"Employees, rightly, have a distrust of AI implementation in their workflows, after all, this is a technology that leaders are claiming will reduce workforces and be highly efficient and productive, threatening the long-term job prospects of many white collar workers," said Mark.

That tension between AI enthusiasm among early adopters and AI anxiety among the broader workforce is something every organisation needs to navigate carefully.

What This Means for Asia

The Google study is US-focused, but the implications for Asia are clear.

1. Soft skills development through AI is going to be enormous here. In markets where saving face matters, where hierarchies are steep, and where asking questions can feel risky, AI as a private thinking partner is genuinely transformative.
2. The demand for personalised AI is only going to grow. Generic tools that don't understand local context, languages, or work cultures will lose out to those that do.
3. The organisations that win the talent war will be the ones that empower their young professionals to shape their own AI workflows rather than imposing top-down tools and restrictions.

And finally, the confidence gap between early adopters and everyone else is something we need to close deliberately, not just hope it sorts itself out. 91% of respondents said they felt increased confidence in being able to contribute more than their role typically requires. That's not just a productivity stat. That's a cultural shift in how people see their own potential.

If AI can help more people across Asia feel that same sense of capability, we'll all be better for it.

What's your experience? Are you using AI for career development or soft skills, or is it still mostly about productivity for you? Drop a comment below, I'd love to hear how this is playing out in your workplace.