Productivity Promises, Performance Pressure.

Executives keep promising an AI productivity leap. Workers are seeing PIPs, tougher office mandates, and rising pressure to do more with less. This week: why AI’s ROI is still elusive, how “context” becomes the edge, and why students are shifting away from classic CS.

By EBN 8 min read
Close-up of a document titled “Performance Improvement Plan” clipped with a binder clip, with a pen pointing at the page on a desk.
When the AI story gets loud, the paperwork gets louder.

The AI conversation is splitting into two tracks.

Up top, leaders talk in sweeping terms about automation and transformation. Down on the floor, the lived experience looks different: performance frameworks tightened, return-to-office rules used as leverage, and a lot of “efficiency” that feels like workload expansion.

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Your employees know the truth. Does your EVP? At Fathom we measure the "Credibility Gap" between your promise and their reality.

Close the Gap

This week’s reading puts numbers and human behaviour side by side. AI is spreading fast, but measurable productivity gains remain stubbornly hard to find. In that gap, companies are quietly rearranging risk, expectations, and career pathways.

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