AI trainers, shadow AI, fastest AI adopters May 26, 2026 monday.com ( https://clicks.mail.monday.com/f/a/zZTIYIkkIeS2XyFa_Zzgkw~~/AAQRxRA~/oD1hHiN7REzBjGy9JGK4DKR9x9-ES-Rdn8TlRhTae-a72Qngm6Xit2th9f92-cchlpd4iuboVGZOSPL25WqNIj0JPm4WIEik8ggstllwOJNB-0cP4DdJW2P396eFbpKPR3CaOQdjrZd0BvdjvS-v1cl6Eh5eluijEvhaiC6YHAuC4Q_MSqYUVxnb9PuL0g2kN-rPn6ieHhI0IF22XBOfekkbpQA1_govsVkydpBlUfY~ ) ’s take on the latest work trends - sent on Tuesdays. Inside this issue * Workplace trends * Bridging the AI divide * Coaching your team to think bigger * Water cooler chatter * Question of the week * Follow the monday.com ( https://clicks.mail.monday.com/f/a/3ZAn1E4bcM2-R1ZT8be0MQ~~/AAQRxRA~/oD1hHiN7REzBjGy9JGK4DKR9x9-ES-Rdn8TlRhTae-a72Qngm6Xit2th9f92-cchlpd4iuboVGZOSPL25WqNIj0JPm4WIEik8ggstllwOJNB-0cP4DdJW2P396eFbpKPR3CaOQdjrZd0BvdjvS-v1QRNmaLgpmlqmfBW-dDW8k1KjCrsIQ5wx80BC_nc3AJ3c9rUFA-kXALtPZkcsAsbtSIyJuLrIWiCfS4eoTte4GQ~ ) weekly on LinkedIn ( https://clicks.mail.monday.com/f/a/VK7_g6G7NFzlygMOXbCSAw~~/AAQRxRA~/XchwC6YRaL6louRqji3NRFeJhzBVPzFUbJOu20b_ZftBniGKwcCXn44WrnHPxnPoriZYnaj9iJKuhUAYO6mHPXA0CU6ax2BrFhGufPHT_fwLgCnJshPJcNMFklI0ucd07BcpwGkZLenDXHKnYz7V2GL82FewejVHO7bccJx25mg~ ) Workplace trends Expertise AI trainers are earning up to $350 an hour to teach chatbots their expertise AI companies are now hiring human experts to fine-tune their models, from anesthesiologists to litigators to screenwriters, as large language models run low on available training data, CBS News reports. Mercor, a recruiting platform for AI labs, puts average pay at $105 an hour for these roles, with specialized expertise commanding considerably more. Mercor's CEO predicts AI training will become the largest job category in the world. Healthcare AI virtual wards cut NHS hospital bed use by 61% The UK's National Health Service is piloting AI-powered remote monitoring to ease pressure on its 7.11 million patient waiting list, per NHS England data. Wearable devices continuously track vitals like oxygen levels and blood pressure, with machine learning flagging deterioration before patients reach crisis point. Early data suggests the technology saves the NHS an estimated £3 for every £1 spent compared with traditional care models, according to virtual care provider Doccla. Legal Corporate legal teams are becoming the fastest AI adopters in business Goldman Sachs estimates more than 40% of legal tasks could be automated, and firms are moving fast. At Australian insurer IAG, more than half of 1,500 legal matters handled over a six-month period were at least partially automated. Investment in legal AI now ranks second only to AI coding tools, per a 2026 analysis by venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, reflecting a broader shift in how organizations view their legal departments. Inequity Women hold 85% of the jobs most exposed to AI displacement Clerical and administrative roles have long been a primary entry point for women into the workforce. Now, job postings for those roles sit 5.4% below pre-Covid levels, according to Indeed, and the US gender pay gap has widened for the first time in decades. An ILO study found AI automation risk falls on women at nearly triple the rate of men, with many having limited opportunities to adapt without targeted training. IT 71% of UK workers use unapproved AI tools at work "Shadow AI" is the term for using AI tools that haven't been cleared by your company's IT department, and it's now the norm rather than the exception. At mid-size companies, roughly 200 unsanctioned AI tools are in use per 1,000 workers, per security platform Reco. About half of company leaders don't know the extent of their employees' AI use, and only four in ten have a formal AI governance policy in place, a Protiviti survey found. Bridging the AI divide on your team By monday.com ( https://clicks.mail.monday.com/f/a/Vx7kjZhD9pkfivgiTtOD0Q~~/AAQRxRA~/oD1hHiN7REzBjGy9JGK4DKR9x9-ES-Rdn8TlRhTae-a72Qngm6Xit2th9f92-cchlpd4iuboVGZOSPL25WqNIj0JPm4WIEik8ggstllwOJNB-0cP4DdJW2P396eFbpKPR3CaOQdjrZd0BvdjvS-v1c6HScNPUWvWOka7aJrUbvRFefdKATtarWVTsiWgn7GoKZsnQgOolNtZ-vWyk0DPggzL08YHVztB7Xa5gxKHl4g~ ) As a manager, you've probably started noticing a growing divide between AI leaders and laggards on your team. Some employees are actively experimenting — testing workflows, building new processes, and figuring out what the technology can actually do. Others are still waiting for someone to hand them an instruction manual before they begin. For Chris Douglass, Director of Sales, CRM atmonday.com ( https://clicks.mail.monday.com/f/a/wRCYaqg8GB7ruPiqNVmwxw~~/AAQRxRA~/oD1hHiN7REzBjGy9JGK4DKR9x9-ES-Rdn8TlRhTae-a72Qngm6Xit2th9f92-cchlpd4iuboVGZOSPL25WqNIj0JPm4WIEik8ggstllwOJNB-0cP4DdJW2P396eFbpKPR3CaOQdjrZd0BvdjvS-v1VMuiYg6e0xTreNM0syo-b052MQ99G86_1k2vpKT6okuMr0HUCNflBxrpjLOoXZ0c9-GfJkbfphD0msGxpq7KjM~ ) , closing that gap isn’t about chasing the latest tools. It’s about helping team members think more strategically about how AI can improve outcomes, solve problems, and create better ways of working. In a recent conversation with our editorial team, Chris shared how leaders can help teams use AI to achieve meaningful business outcomes while staying thoughtful, adaptable, and engaged. So, how can you help bridge the AI divide on your team? Foster a culture of experimentation One of the clearest contrasts Chris sees on teams today is between employees who actively experiment with AI and those who wait for someone to tell them exactly how to use it. His advice? Stop waiting for the perfect process before you begin. "Be comfortable with not knowing the answer," he says. "There's no right time to jump in. You just have to do it." Chris encourages leaders to create an environment where employees feel safe testing ideas, exploring use cases, and learning through hands-on experience. That trial-and-error process often leads employees to uncover opportunities leaders may never have identified on their own. Chris has seen team members use AI to streamline repetitive workflows, analyze information more quickly, and build more customized experiences – all because they gave themselves permission to explore what the technology could do. "If you experiment, you'll understand the capabilities and the limitations. And once you understand the capabilities, you'll start to see where things can be streamlined," Chris says. Strategic AI adoption happens when teams feel safe enough to test, learn, and adapt as the technology evolves. As you begin introducing AI into workflows, it can be tempting to immediately standardize processes and tightly control how employees use the technology. But Chris warns that moving too quickly to lock everything down can unintentionally limit innovation. “Trying to standardize too often will hinder innovation,” he says. “It’ll hinder collaboration, it’ll hinder development and advancement.” That doesn’t mean removing structure entirely. It means recognizing that strategic AI adoption often develops through exploration before standardization. Employees need room to test ideas, adapt workflows, and discover what actually improves their work before leaders decide what should become part of a larger process Key question: “ Are you creating regular opportunities for employees to test, explore, and share new ideas with AI?” Encourage employees to build, not copy One of Chris’s strongest beliefs is that employees learn AI best when they actively build their own workflows instead of simply copying someone else’s prompts or systems. “You can’t rely on the work of others because it’s not going to give you the same results,” he explains. Every employee thinks differently, which means AI workflows naturally need to evolve around individual thinking styles, goals, and challenges. While it can be helpful for teams to share ideas and inspiration, leaders should encourage employees to understand how AI works for themselves and adapt it to their own processes. Chris has seen that some of the most effective AI use cases come from employees experimenting independently to improve their unique workflows. That process builds much deeper strategic thinking because employees begin to view AI less as a shortcut they are borrowing and more as a tool they can shape intentionally around the outcomes they’re trying to achieve. Key question: “Are your employees copying one another’s AI workflows, or are they building their own?” Protect critical thinking While Chris is optimistic about AI's potential, he's equally cautious about what gets lost when employees rely on it too heavily. "The biggest thing I don't want people to lose is their critical thinking capabilities," he says. He describes the concept of "time under tension" in strength training. Just as muscles need resistance to grow, the brain needs to work through hard problems to stay sharp. When employees outsource their thinking to AI, skipping the creative struggle entirely, those mental pathways start to atrophy. His approach as a leader is to coach employees to evaluate AI outputs rather than simply accept them, questioning what's right, what's missing, and what they would change. The strongest teams, he believes, will use AI to deepen their thinking, not replace it. Key question: “Are your employees questioning and evaluating AI outputs, or accepting them at face value?” Tie in business outcomes When teams start using AI, it's easy to get excited about individual efficiency gains without connecting them to a larger goal. Chris encourages leaders to zoom out and make that connection explicit. “What’s the broader impact we’re creating by using AI? What’s the impact to your customer’s customer?” he says. “That’s the conversation we’re having.” One way to encourage more strategic thinking is to revisit your team’s biggest priorities for the quarter or year and brainstorm where AI could create the most value. That could mean improving decision-making, streamlining repetitive tasks, uncovering insights faster, or freeing up time for high-impact collaboration. Starting with the outcome instead of the tool helps employees think more intentionally about where AI can make the biggest difference. Key question: “Which business goals are you using AI to support?” Water cooler chatter Singapore offices are installing edible green walls to get employees to stay in-office. As RTO tensions mount, a growing number of workplaces are fitting indoor farms where staff harvest herbs and greens between meetings. A survey across 50 client workplaces found 93% of employees said the farms strengthened the workplace community. "You don't just consume it; you watch it grow, you harvest it and you talk to your colleagues about what you're making for dinner with those greens. It creates a reason to stay that feels natural, not mandated." Mathew Howe, Founder, Grobrix Writers are deliberately adding typos and slang to prove they're human. As AI-generated text floods the internet, professionals fear being accused of using chatbots, leading some to pepper their writing with intentional errors and obscure pop culture references. Publisher Hachette recently pulled a book over allegations of AI-composition. "I was reading the Bible the other day, and there were em dashes, and I was like, is this AI-generated?" Ryan Johnson, business advisor and blogger Question of the week This week’s question: What percentage of job seekers cite better benefits as their motivation for switching jobs? 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