How to Find Out the Truth About AI Use in Your Team If They’re Hiding It

When you ask your team who is already using AI at work, silence can mean two things: nobody has tried it, or everyone is trying it but is afraid to admit it. In a small company of 10–100 people, that’s the difference between “we’re missing the market” and “we’re losing part of the team to unaddressed fear.”

Why the Team Stays Quiet About AI

Why People Don’t Take Pride in Using AI

An employee might save hours every week thanks to AI but never say a word about it. For them, it’s not “innovation”—it’s an admission that they found a faster way to do their job. In a culture that rewards hours clocked rather than results, using AI looks like “cutting corners.”

The first thing an owner needs to understand: silence does not mean absence of use. It means the team doesn’t see safety in being open.

Why Formal Surveys Don’t Work

A questionnaire like “How often do you use AI?” with options “Daily,” “Once a week,” “Never” produces a polished card. People answer the way they think leadership expects, not the way things actually are. If there is no culture of openness in the company, any formal survey becomes theater.

You won’t find the truth from charts and graphs. You’ll find it in conversations where no one is afraid to be uncomfortable.

How to Get Honest Feedback Without the Theater

Talk to People Face to Face, Not Through Surveys

Instead of a corporate survey, hold short one-on-one conversations with each key employee. 15–20 minutes, no secretary, no protocol that goes into their personnel file. Don’t ask “Do you use AI?” Ask “What in your work right now eats up the most time?” and “What would you hand off to a machine if you could?”

When the conversation is about pain, not technology, people open up faster. They will mention something they already tried, or tell you what they’re afraid to try.

Create a Safe Environment for Confessions

If someone admits to using AI to optimize their work, the leadership’s first reaction must not be “So now you do less, meaning we can reduce your rate.” That will shut the topic down forever.

Instead, establish that the result stays the same or gets better, and the time freed up can be redirected to more complex tasks. People need to see that openness about AI does not lead to punishment.

Ask About Specific Tasks, Not “AI in General”

“Do you use AI?” is too broad a question. Better to ask about specific routines: “How do you currently prepare a commercial proposal?”, “How long does processing one order take?”, “Where do you get stuck for half an hour every day?”

When an employee describes a real process, you see where AI could already be working—even if the employee themselves doesn’t call it that.

Lead by Example

If the founder doesn’t use AI themselves and doesn’t talk about their own attempts and mistakes, the team won’t start being open. Tell them where you tried AI and it didn’t work, where you saved an hour of work, and where you’re still looking for a solution. That removes the stigma from the topic.

Don’t Turn Feedback into a Board Report

The goal of the conversations is to learn the truth, not to create a presentation. If every admission immediately ends up in a corporate report or becomes the basis for bonuses and penalties, people will clam up quickly.

Keep the information to yourself, use it for your own decisions about training and tools, but don’t turn feedback into a showy metric.

Definition: Shadow AI — unofficial use of AI tools by employees without the knowledge or approval of management. It’s a signal that the team finds value in the technology but doesn’t see safety in openness.

Definition: AI shame — discomfort or fear of admitting AI use because it’s perceived as an “unfair advantage” or a sign that the employee can’t cope on their own.

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FAQ

Should we conduct an anonymous survey so people aren’t afraid?

Anonymity removes fear, but it also removes the ability to talk to the person who is already finding solutions. Better to start with individual conversations in an atmosphere of trust. Leave anonymous surveys for later, if the team is large and individual conversations are impossible.

What to do if someone admits to secretly using AI?

Don’t punish them and don’t discuss it publicly. Ask exactly what they are doing and whether they need help to do it legally and safely for company data. This person could become your first internal expert.

Can you force the team to openly talk about AI with a single directive?

No. Honest feedback comes from culture, not from a one-off event. If people see that openness doesn’t lead to punishment, they will start talking on their own.

How to tell if feedback is honest, not “correct”?

If everyone answers the same way and positively—that’s suspicious. Honest feedback contains skepticism, fears, examples of failures, and specific obstacles. If you only hear “everything is great,” you’re probably hearing theater.

Conclusion

Honest feedback about AI in the team doesn’t come from surveys and reports. It comes from conversations where people aren’t afraid to be uncomfortable. Start with one key employee, ask about their most exhausting routine, and listen without judgment.

Tomorrow, hold one 15-minute conversation with the person you trust most, and ask what they would hand off to a machine if they could.