PwC is offering cash rewards of up to $5,000 and rolling out AI coaching hubs across the United States as the consulting giant pushes employees to use artificial intelligence in their daily work rather than simply experiment with it.
The move highlights a growing problem facing large employers: many workers now have access to powerful AI tools, but far fewer are using them in ways that meaningfully change how work gets done. As companies continue pouring money into AI, decisions about hiring, training, promotions and workforce planning are becoming increasingly tied to whether employees can turn that technology into measurable results.
Across corporate America, the challenge is no longer buying AI software. It is persuading employees to use it often enough to justify the cost.
For years, businesses focused on getting AI into employees' hands. Today, many are discovering that access was the easy part.
At PwC, which has provided AI tools to roughly 80,000 employees, attention is shifting toward practical use. The firm wants staff to move beyond occasional experimentation and build AI into everyday workflows. That challenge is becoming familiar across industries as employers look for evidence that expensive technology investments are producing tangible gains.
The New Problem Isn't Access
According to PwC Chief People and Inclusion Officer Yolanda Seals-Coffield, more than 90% of employees completed the firm's early AI training programmes. Yet training alone does not guarantee that workers will change long-established habits.
Millions of dollars have been spent putting AI software on employee desktops. In many offices, however, the technology still sits on the sidelines. Staff know what the tools are capable of, but many have yet to make them part of their daily routines.
That gap is becoming expensive. Organisations can justify software purchases relatively easily. Demonstrating lasting productivity improvements is proving harder.
Cash Rewards for Real-World Results
PwC's answer is its new "[A]mplifying [I]mpact Awards" programme.
Managers can nominate colleagues who have used AI to generate measurable business outcomes, whether by reducing manual work, accelerating client projects, improving efficiency or helping teammates develop AI skills. Winners can receive awards worth up to $5,000. Nearly 900 submissions were received before nominations closed.
Awards will be distributed later this month. PwC is now examining which ideas can be replicated more broadly across the firm.
Rather than relying entirely on directives from senior leadership, employers increasingly want practical examples that emerge from teams themselves. The focus is on finding solutions that can be copied elsewhere rather than creating isolated success stories.
Boards and investors are also becoming more interested in what happens after the software rollout. Purchasing AI tools is one thing. Proving they are changing the way people work is another.
Bringing the "Genius Bar" Into the Workplace
PwC has also launched travelling AI coaching hubs that employees have nicknamed "genius bars."
Workers bring real projects, client challenges or workflow problems and receive hands-on support from AI specialists. The goal is not to solve problems for employees but to teach them how to build their own solutions and AI agents.
The programme has already appeared in multiple cities and is expanding after receiving strong feedback from early participants.
Plenty of employees want to use AI. The difficulty is knowing where to start.
Traditional training sessions often explain what AI can do. They do not always show how it fits into the practical realities of a busy workday. The coaching hubs attempt to bridge that gap.
HR Is Moving Closer to the Centre of AI Decisions
One of the more notable developments inside PwC is who now owns much of the AI conversation.
Technology projects have traditionally been driven by IT departments. HR leaders are taking a larger role because adoption, training, employee trust and workforce planning have become central challenges.
Behind that change sits a larger question.
If AI allows some skills to be acquired faster, companies may need to rethink how they recruit, train and develop staff. Roles that once required years of experience may evolve more quickly than previous workforce models anticipated.
Workforce planning is becoming a more frequent exercise. Assumptions that looked reliable only a few years ago are harder to make when technology capabilities continue changing at this pace.
Businesses Are Becoming More Practical About AI
Companies are no longer talking mainly about access to AI. Increasingly, the discussion is about usage.
That helps explain why firms are spending money on coaching programmes, incentives and adoption initiatives rather than simply purchasing additional software licences.
The technology continues to advance rapidly. What remains uncertain is how quickly large workforces will adapt alongside it—and how many employers will decide that teaching people to use AI effectively matters just as much as buying the technology itself.
The answer will shape more than technology budgets. It will influence how companies hire, train and evaluate workers long after the excitement surrounding AI has faded.
