Is AI Burnout Real?

Technology implementation is happening at a rapid pace, however, are individuals adapting to change faster?

AI and automation are reshaping the workplace. This is characterized by companies’ focus on improving productivity and output. However, research consistently shows that the main challenge is not technology implementation, but in how individuals are supported to adapt and thrive.

Harvard Business Review and Upwork’s 2025 studies highlight that burnout is rarely caused by AI per se; instead, it stems from rapid, poorly managed change, unclear training, shifting job expectations, and a lack of transparency.

When organizations introduce AI without training or preparing their workforce, neglect skill development, fail to clarify how roles evolve, or introduce AI without training or preparing their workforce, the result is often disengagement and insecurity. This raises doubts about role clarity and future employment with employees, leading to distrust between employees and employers.

McKinsey’s recent analysis confirms that employees with access to role-based learning and transparent AI processes are more competent and confident, reducing the risk of burnout while boosting overall engagement. This places a premium on employees’ intellect, while providing them opportunities to leverage AI for collaborative growth.

GenAI Awareness & Skilling at Infogain

Infogain's approach to enterprise-wide AI adoption aligns closely with the above-mentioned findings, which prioritizes human augmentation over mere automation. Our human-in-the-loop strategy is built on the conviction that for AI to be truly transformative, it must be understood and leveraged by everyone. This begins with foundational, 360-degree GenAI awareness initiatives designed to demystify the technology and cultivate a culture of informed curiosity! This is followed by deploying targeted skill tracks and practical learning journeys tailored to specific roles, ensuring our engineers, consultants, tech evangelists and delivery leads go beyond mere AI conversations and build and implement. The commitment to adaptive upskilling is central to our brand promise of achieving excellence, and ensures our talent sees Generative AI as a powerful co-pilot and a partner in innovation.

Infogain Walks the Talk

Our human-centric ethos is operationalized through AI-powered assistants like AspireNxt, our internal employee experience platform. By seamlessly automating repetitive and administrative tasks like processing HR queries, facilitating onboarding, or retrieving information from knowledge bases, AspireNxt liberates our most valuable asset, i.e. the people. This frees them to focus their expertise on uniquely human, meaningful, and creative work, such as architecting complex client solutions, fostering strategic relationships, and driving innovation.

This strategy is strongly validated by research from institutions like Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, which finds that the most significant gains in productivity and employee satisfaction come from automation that enhances and simplifies human work. By embedding this principle into our own operations, Infogain optimizes internal efficiency but also nurtures a more engaged, empowered, and future-ready workforce poised to deliver exceptional value.

Leadership, Transparency & Partnerships

Navigating the complexities of AI adoption is not a technical challenge, but a leadership imperative. Our management philosophy is built on business-benefitting core principles similarly voiced by MIT and the Center for Creative Leadership. Our leaders are mandated to set crystal-clear expectations, communicate with empathy, and frame digital adoption as a shared journey, not a top-down directive. They are trained to identify the early signs of change-related fatigue and provide proactive support, transforming potential anxiety into a powerful opportunity for collective growth. In line with findings from McKinsey and Workhuman, we have cultivated strategic platforms like our peer-led, AI-focused platform titled - Ignis, and other collaborative forums. These are not simply employee initiatives; they are vital cogs in the wheel that action real-world experimentation, openly debate ethical considerations, and collectively shape the future of AI at Infogain.

Underpinning our entire AI strategy is an unconditional commitment to trust and transparency. The foundational truth demonstrated in studies from Nature to the World Economic Forum positions that employee trust is built on proof, not promises. Therefore, we have operationalized ethical governance as a non-negotiable standard, demanding transparent data use, ensuring algorithmic fairness, and embedding ethical design principles into the core of our development lifecycle.

This commitment is actively enforced through robust, ongoing monitoring and strategic partnerships with academic institutions, which provide third-party validation and hold us accountable. By building our AI future on this bedrock of integrity, Infogain not only fosters deep employee engagement and organizational resilience but also guarantees that human-centricity remains the ultimate measure of our success.

Thriving in an AI-powered future requires organizations to make innovative people-first decisions, that balance technical advancement with deep empathy, ethical stewardship, and continuous learning! The research and results are clear; lasting transformation begins by putting people at the center, equipping them to lead with purpose and with tools that define tomorrow's success.

References

• AI in the workplace: A report for 2025 | McKinsey
• Building generative AI employee talent | McKinsey
• Heavy AI use at work has a surprising relationship to burnout, new study finds | ZDNET
• Research: Using AI at Work Makes Us Lonelier and Less Healthy
• What Workers Really Want from Artificial Intelligence | Stanford HAI
• New analysis suggests 9 ethical AI principles for companies | World Economic Forum
• How transparency modulates trust in artificial intelligence - PMC