Today, CDW Canada, the strategic end-to-end technology partner that turns customer ambition into outcomes, released new research exploring how Canadian organizations are moving from artificial intelligence (AI) deployment to realizing business value. The report, Canada’s AI Workplace Evolution from Adoption to Accountability, draws on a survey conducted by Earnscliffe on behalf of CDW Canada of 1,011 Canadian office workers across organizations of varying sizes and industries throughout Canada.
The report finds AI is now firmly embedded in Canadian workplaces, with daily use of workplace-approved AI tools nearly doubling year over year (31 percent, up from 18 percent). But as adoption becomes mainstream, organizations are increasingly focused on a more pressing challenge: turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes. The research also points to the rapid rise of agentic AI, with one third of employees already reporting the use of AI agents capable of completing multistep workflows, making recommendations and helping drive outcomes.
Agentic AI emerges as the next frontier
The next phase of workplace AI is already taking shape, signalling a shift from AI tools that assist with individual tasks to systems that can help execute more complex workflows and contribute to outcomes.
The research suggests organizations are beginning to move from simply consuming AI technologies to actively shaping them. Nearly one-in-three agentic AI users report their organization is already building AI agents in-house.
At the same time, the findings highlight the importance of employee enablement. Workers who receive hands-on AI training report significantly higher levels of confidence using AI (46 percent are very confident) than those who receive no formal support (23 percent), underscoring the growing need for practical, role-specific training as AI capabilities become more advanced.
Trust remains the biggest obstacle to deeper AI adoption
Employee attitudes toward AI continue to trend positively. Curiosity remains the dominant sentiment among workers (42 percent) and outweighs the percentage that are worried about AI, suggesting employees are increasingly open to AI in the workplace.
However, trust continues to be a barrier to broader and deeper adoption. Accuracy and reliability are among the top AI concerns across daily users (31 percent), less frequent users (24 percent) and those not yet using approved tools (43 percent).
The findings also show that barriers vary depending on an employee’s experience with AI. More advanced users tend to focus on privacy and security concerns, while those who have yet to embrace AI are more likely to question both its reliability and its relevance to their role.
Organizations are beginning to see value, but many still struggle to measure it
The research suggests AI is delivering benefits beyond simple efficiency gains. Compared to 2025, employees with access to AI at work increasingly report improvements in productivity (58 percent, up 11 points), quality of outputs (54 percent, up 15 points) and innovation (48 percent, up 11 points), indicating that organizations are beginning to realize broader business value from AI investments.
Despite this progress, many organizations continue to face a measurement gap. While more organizations report tracking specific KPIs to evaluate AI performance than they did a year ago (38 percent, up from 24 percent), a significant number still lack formal frameworks to assess ROI (23 percent) or are unsure whether such measurement exists (23 percent).
As AI programs mature and investment scrutiny intensifies, the ability to measure and communicate impact is critical to ensuring effective adoption. For CDW Canada, that means helping organizations move beyond AI implementation to building sustainable programs grounded in strategy, employee enablement, governance and measurable business outcomes.
For Canadian organizations, the next phase of AI success will be defined by trust, workforce readiness and measurable outcomes. As organizations explore emerging technologies such as agentic AI, CDW Canada is helping customers build the strategies, skills and governance frameworks needed to turn AI investments into lasting business value.
To learn more about the state of AI in Canadian workplaces, download the full 2026 Canadian AI Workspace Trends Report: Canada’s AI Workplace Evolution from Adoption to Accountability.
Join the conversation online by following @CDWCanada on X and LinkedIn.
About the Survey
This study was conducted by Earnscliffe on behalf of CDW Canada. Earnscliffe is a member of CRIC and abides by the ESOMAR code of Market, Opinion, and Social Research and Data Analytics and CRIC standards, including the CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements.
The online survey was in field from June 15 to 25, 2026, with a sample of 1,011 Canadian office workers who work in organizations with at least 20 employees and use a computer in an office setting 11 or more hours a week, using Leger’s LEO panel. Quotas were set for business size, sector, region, age and gender to align with sample structure from previous waves, and data is unweighted.
The survey was conducted in English. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error.
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This entry was posted on September 22, 2026 at 9:23 am and is filed under Commentary with tags CDW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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CDW Canada’s AI Workplace Trends Report Finds Canadian Organizations Entering New Phase of AI Maturity as Agentic AI Gains Ground
Today, CDW Canada, the strategic end-to-end technology partner that turns customer ambition into outcomes, released new research exploring how Canadian organizations are moving from artificial intelligence (AI) deployment to realizing business value. The report, Canada’s AI Workplace Evolution from Adoption to Accountability, draws on a survey conducted by Earnscliffe on behalf of CDW Canada of 1,011 Canadian office workers across organizations of varying sizes and industries throughout Canada.
The report finds AI is now firmly embedded in Canadian workplaces, with daily use of workplace-approved AI tools nearly doubling year over year (31 percent, up from 18 percent). But as adoption becomes mainstream, organizations are increasingly focused on a more pressing challenge: turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes. The research also points to the rapid rise of agentic AI, with one third of employees already reporting the use of AI agents capable of completing multistep workflows, making recommendations and helping drive outcomes.
Agentic AI emerges as the next frontier
The next phase of workplace AI is already taking shape, signalling a shift from AI tools that assist with individual tasks to systems that can help execute more complex workflows and contribute to outcomes.
The research suggests organizations are beginning to move from simply consuming AI technologies to actively shaping them. Nearly one-in-three agentic AI users report their organization is already building AI agents in-house.
At the same time, the findings highlight the importance of employee enablement. Workers who receive hands-on AI training report significantly higher levels of confidence using AI (46 percent are very confident) than those who receive no formal support (23 percent), underscoring the growing need for practical, role-specific training as AI capabilities become more advanced.
Trust remains the biggest obstacle to deeper AI adoption
Employee attitudes toward AI continue to trend positively. Curiosity remains the dominant sentiment among workers (42 percent) and outweighs the percentage that are worried about AI, suggesting employees are increasingly open to AI in the workplace.
However, trust continues to be a barrier to broader and deeper adoption. Accuracy and reliability are among the top AI concerns across daily users (31 percent), less frequent users (24 percent) and those not yet using approved tools (43 percent).
The findings also show that barriers vary depending on an employee’s experience with AI. More advanced users tend to focus on privacy and security concerns, while those who have yet to embrace AI are more likely to question both its reliability and its relevance to their role.
Organizations are beginning to see value, but many still struggle to measure it
The research suggests AI is delivering benefits beyond simple efficiency gains. Compared to 2025, employees with access to AI at work increasingly report improvements in productivity (58 percent, up 11 points), quality of outputs (54 percent, up 15 points) and innovation (48 percent, up 11 points), indicating that organizations are beginning to realize broader business value from AI investments.
Despite this progress, many organizations continue to face a measurement gap. While more organizations report tracking specific KPIs to evaluate AI performance than they did a year ago (38 percent, up from 24 percent), a significant number still lack formal frameworks to assess ROI (23 percent) or are unsure whether such measurement exists (23 percent).
As AI programs mature and investment scrutiny intensifies, the ability to measure and communicate impact is critical to ensuring effective adoption. For CDW Canada, that means helping organizations move beyond AI implementation to building sustainable programs grounded in strategy, employee enablement, governance and measurable business outcomes.
For Canadian organizations, the next phase of AI success will be defined by trust, workforce readiness and measurable outcomes. As organizations explore emerging technologies such as agentic AI, CDW Canada is helping customers build the strategies, skills and governance frameworks needed to turn AI investments into lasting business value.
To learn more about the state of AI in Canadian workplaces, download the full 2026 Canadian AI Workspace Trends Report: Canada’s AI Workplace Evolution from Adoption to Accountability.
Join the conversation online by following @CDWCanada on X and LinkedIn.
About the Survey
This study was conducted by Earnscliffe on behalf of CDW Canada. Earnscliffe is a member of CRIC and abides by the ESOMAR code of Market, Opinion, and Social Research and Data Analytics and CRIC standards, including the CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements.
The online survey was in field from June 15 to 25, 2026, with a sample of 1,011 Canadian office workers who work in organizations with at least 20 employees and use a computer in an office setting 11 or more hours a week, using Leger’s LEO panel. Quotas were set for business size, sector, region, age and gender to align with sample structure from previous waves, and data is unweighted.
The survey was conducted in English. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error.
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This entry was posted on September 22, 2026 at 9:23 am and is filed under Commentary with tags CDW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.