Things that make us go hmmm…
AI adoption @ work: Are we stuck in a widening chasm?
Nu U Staff | October 2025
Ramp’s AI Index shows business adoption of AI ticked back up in July and August 2025 after a mid-year wobble, but the rate of growth is still shy of early year highs. Layer in the recent Gartner pronouncement that GenAI is entering the “Trough of Disillusionment” and there’s reason to wonder: Is this a data blip or could this be a potential “crossing the chasm” moment (where the adoption of an innovation stalls and fails to make the leap past early enthusiasts to the more cautious mainstream majority)? The twist with AI is that the technology won’t sit still—models, hardware, use-cases, and rules keep shifting. When technology changes faster than habits and governance can, it's harder to get the pragmatists and skeptics on board so the so-called chasm between early and mainstream adoption can persist—or even widen—as organizations struggle to lock in stable workflows and controls.
What happens next is genuinely uncertain. For L&D and AI champions, this is a “hold multiple hypotheses” moment: Is this a brief pause before a new acceleration or the start of a longer plateau? If usage climbs while tools evolve, is enthusiasm outrunning guardrails or is “good enough” the new bar? Does the application and enthusiasm gap between AI experts and average users widen or shrink over time? And as more teams drift to smaller, task-specific models (cheaper, faster, easier to govern), is that a fit-for-purpose turn or a quiet reset of expectations? How the data points and signals move in the months ahead will shape whether we’re focusing on building bridges for the cautious majority to cross or planning for a longer, bumpier ride through the valley.