Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Millennials are gen AI enthusiasts
Artificial Intelligence | Generative AI | Workplace
March 5, 2025 – Workers are adopting AI technology faster than many of their leaders realize. This finding is one of several highlighted in McKinsey’s latest report, Superagency in the Workplace. All this week, our data visualizations will focus on themes from this report, such as employee enthusiasm for AI and the technology’s economic potential. For more, see the report.
A McKinsey survey finds that millennials are the most active generation of gen AI users. Some 62 percent of employees aged 35 to 44 report high levels of expertise, compared with 50 percent of 18- to 24-year-old Gen Zers and 22 percent of baby boomers over 65. Many millennials in this age group are managers and can help their teams become more skilled AI users, Senior Partner Lareina Yee and coauthors point out.
To read the report, see “Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential,” January 28, 2025.
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Visual form
Table (with Visual Encoding): age-cohort matrix of gen-AI familiarity, comfort, and participation.
Layout / body structure
Age cohorts run across the columns, and gen-AI sentiment or behavior measures run down the rows. Each rectangular cell contains a percentage value.
What is being compared
It compares age groups from 18 to 24 through 65-plus on extensive gen-AI familiarity, comfort using gen AI at work, willingness to provide feedback, and willingness to help design AI tools.
Measurement system
Every value is percent of respondents. The direct labels carry the measurement, and color intensity highlights stronger cells within the matrix.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The 35-to-44 column is highlighted repeatedly with stronger values, while older cohorts show weaker cells on familiarity and feedback. The block layout makes cohort-by-cohort differences visible without an axis.
Main takeaway from the visual
The chart shows millennials aged 35 to 44 as the most consistently engaged gen-AI cohort, combining high familiarity, workplace comfort, and willingness to shape AI tools.
Key standout values or extremes
Ages 35 to 44 reach 62 percent for extensive familiarity and 90 percent for comfort using gen AI at work. The 65-plus group is lowest on extensive familiarity at 22 percent, and the 55-to-64 group falls to 47 percent on feedback.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a fixed value-matrix table; there are no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the gen-AI age-cohort matrix is the visual on this page.