What happened
KPMG LLP and the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin analysed 1.4 million real workplace AI interactions, identifying distinct patterns of "sophisticated" AI use. The study found high-impact users treat AI as a reasoning partner: shaping its approach, providing concrete direction, requiring explanations, and refining outputs over multiple exchanges. These users apply AI to complex tasks, demonstrating measurable patterns in return frequency, output refinement, request ambition, and tool selection. KPMG translates these insights into internal training and client guidance.
Why it matters
Organisations can now identify and scale high-impact AI capabilities, moving beyond basic prompting. The study provides a roadmap for procurement teams and learning & development leaders to prioritise training on specific engagement patterns, not just technical skills or frequency of use. This shifts the focus from mere AI access to cultivating measurable human-AI collaboration, enabling teams to apply AI as a general cognitive tool for complex problem-solving. This follows recent discussions on how AI codifies expertise, now with a clear mechanism for its operationalisation.
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