Ready for human–AI collaboration? The impact of technology readiness on expert status, usage and usage expectations

As organisations increasingly adopt AI, fostering employee engagement is essential to unlock its full potential. This study examines psychological and behavioural factors that shape employees’ readiness to engage in human–AI collaboration (HAIC) within a global organisation. Drawing on matched survey data collected before and after a three-month pilot of an internal AI assistant and analysed with PLS-SEM, we trace how technology readiness relates to employees’ perceived expertise, prior usage, usage expectations, and actual usage along a sequential adoption process. The results show that these stages reinforce one another: pre-pilot perceived expertise relates to previous usage, which shapes usage expectations and, in turn, actual usage and post-pilot perceived expertise. Technology readiness is most strongly associated with early perceived expertise and prior engagement, but shows no direct association with usage expectations or actual usage, suggesting that readiness shapes cognitive positioning rather than short-term behavioural intensity. Motivating traits operate primarily through perceived expertise, whereas inhibiting traits are linked to cautious yet continued engagement rather than avoidance. Overall, our findings demonstrate that successful HAIC adoption requires balancing confidence-building with critical reflection.