In a new survey of over 1000 corporate employees, Highwire found that AI is taking over core parts of the manager's job, from writing performance reviews to coaching people through mistakes.
The study found that employees are also turning to AI for the practice and honest feedback they're afraid to seek from colleagues.
NEW YORK, Oct. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Highwire, a new approach to professional development that prepares talent for the high-pressure dynamics of today’s workplace, published new research revealing how AI is reshaping one of a manager's most human responsibilities: developing people. The study found that giving and receiving feedback has become standard practice for AI: 78% of managers say they've used an AI tool to handle employee feedback or a performance review in the past 12 months. But that shift has outpaced transparency — just 16% of individual contributors say they were told AI played a role in their most recent review, and 40% either suspect it was used without confirmation or aren't sure at all.
Just as managers are outsourcing evaluation, employees are opting out of practicing with the humans around them. For many, AI has become a lower-risk place to prepare and think out loud than their own workplace: nearly 1 in 4 employees now rehearse difficult workplace conversations with an AI tool — a workaround born from an environment where mistakes feel dangerous. Just 46% feel safe making one, and two-thirds have changed their behavior — avoiding risks, staying quiet, or hiding mistakes — to protect themselves.
"AI brings tremendous efficiencies to the workplace and we should continue to use the tools for that purpose. But when it comes to how employees learn, grow, and build their skillset, there's no substitute for humans who actually know them,” said Liza Streiff, Co-Founder and CEO, Highwire. “AI can help you write a faster review, but it doesn't replace human judgment, context, nuance, and empathy. That's part of why 34% of employees say feedback is more generic since AI entered the process and why so many professionals find it easier to communicate with an AI tool than with their own manager. But our study shows that this isn't what people actually want. When we asked employees how they'd feel most prepared for a hard moment at work, the top answers involved people and connection. They want to practice with their teams, watch someone experienced handle a high-stakes moment, and get feedback from their manager. AI is filling a gap, not addressing the issue. That should concern every leader. We must make sure we're not replacing the human development employees actually need with the version that's just easier to reach for."
AI-Generated Performance Reviews Now Dominate.
- 78% have used AI to help prepare employee feedback or a review in the past 12 months, but only 16% of employees say they were told AI was used.
- The experience around that feedback is mixed: while the majority (54%) say feedback has become more specific and actionable, 34% say it's become more generic and 32% say it’s less useful.
AI Is Filling the Practice Gap. But It's Out of Necessity, Not Preference.
- 85% of all workers offered practice agree that practice made their performance better.
- 50% of managers versus 32% of employees say they get to practice before their performance counts.
- 73% of managers have personally been offered practice at work for high-stakes situations — a difficult conversation, addressing conflict, giving critical feedback, or making a high-pressure decision. For employees, only 44% have had that same opportunity.
- So they’re turning to AI. 25% of professionals have already used AI to rehearse a difficult workplace conversation.
- Yet the top three ways workers say they'd feel most prepared are all people-supported: practicing and receiving feedback (22%), watching an experienced person handle the situation (20%), and getting advice from a manager or coach (19%).
We Say Failure Is Essential to Learning. Most Professionals Don't Feel They Have the Freedom to Make One.
- 70% of employees and 75% of managers believe making mistakes is critical to learning new skills at work — yet 46% of employees feel they can make mistakes without it being held against them.
- Two-thirds of employees say that concern caused them to change their behavior at work: 27% avoided taking a reasonable risk and delayed asking for help, 21% held back an idea, and 16% hid or downplayed a mistake.
- 55% of employees and 54% of managers agree that taking a risk at work and being unsuccessful could negatively affect their performance evaluation.
- 42% of managers say mistakes can cause them to limit giving future assignments to employees who make them, and 41% worry how a team member's failure reflects on their own reputation at work.
- 15% of workers say AI is given more room than employees to correct a mistake or poor result and try again.
Methodology
This survey was conducted in August 2026 among 1,034 U.S. full-time corporate professionals at organizations with 100 or more employees. The sample included 321 people-managers and 713 individual contributors, spanning role level, tenure, industry, and AI use. Responses were collected anonymously and are reported in aggregate. Results are unweighted; percentages may not total 100% due to rounding, and multiple-response items may exceed 100%.
About Highwire
Highwire, by Knopman Marks, is a new approach to professional development that prepares talent for the high-pressure dynamics of today’s workplace. Highwire coaches run expert-led sessions where teams practice and ultimately condition skills that cannot be automated — including giving and receiving feedback, earning trust, making strategic decisions under ambiguity, and commanding presence.
Contact:
Nisha Devarajan
nisha@glowcomms.com
