How is training making the $1.2 Trillion AI gap worse?

peterstefanyi
3 days ago
2 min read

Most companies think their AI problem is technical. MIT just showed it’s not. And our pilot confirms it.

MIT’s new research found that 11.7% of U.S. wage value is technically exposed to AI automation, but only 2.2% is actually being automated.¹

That’s a $1.2 trillion capability gap hiding inside administrative, financial, and professional services. It’s not a layoff opportunity. It’s a human capability opportunity waiting to be activated.

But here’s the part nobody wants to talk about: standard AI training is making the gap worse.

The Technical Iceberg

MIT mapped 151 million workers against 13,000+ AI tools and found:

→ 16% of labor tasks can be automated today

→ Highest exposure isn't in coastal tech hubs—it’s in South Dakota, Delaware, Ohio

→ Technical capability exists.

→ Adoption lags 5x behind.

The question isn’t “Can AI do the work?” It’s: Why aren’t organizations capturing the value?

The Psychological Iceberg

At Colaborix, we ran a controlled deployment of Microsoft Copilot with 137 employees.² Two groups. Same tools. Same training. One difference: 4 team coaching sessions over 8 weeks.

The results were stark:

• Trust: -15% → +26%

• Confidence: -6.5% → +22%

• Time saved:+27 hours per person per year.

Training alone decreases trust and confidence, and these are the very foundations required for human-centered AI adoption. Coaching quickly reverses the decline and compounds capability.

Why This Matters

MIT quantified the economic opportunity. Our pilot explains why organizations can’t reach it.

The hidden blocker isn’t the tech. It’s the human system around the tech: trust, confidence, psychological safety, real workflow integration

When these decline, AI stalls no matter how powerful the tools are.

This pattern has been hiding in plain sight. Across 2.7 million employees, research already shows:

• Engagement → +23% profitability (Gallup³)

• Team trust → consistent performance gains (De Jong et al.⁴)

• Confidence → strong correlation with performance (Stajkovic & Luthans⁵)

AI is simply exposing what has always been true: human factors drive business outcomes.

The Strategic Question

MIT gave leaders the map. What they did not answer is the real question: How do you activate $1.2T in capability when trust drops after training?

Our answer: Structured team coaching. Four sessions. Eight weeks. Real work.

Our Results:

• 74% of coached employees outperform uncoached peers

• +27 hours saved per year

• $1,944 annual value from a $500 investment

• 4-month payback of investment

The technical iceberg is real. The psychological iceberg is deeper. And the gap between them is costing U.S. organizations $1.2 trillion in unrealized capacity. The fix isn’t more AI training.

It’s human-centered AI activation of trust, confidence, capability.

If you’re in financial services, admin operations, or professional services, MIT shows you’re sitting on the largest hidden AI exposure. Our pilot shows your teams may not yet feel ready, but they can be in eight weeks.