The Collage Companies · Company AI Survey
What the company told us.
We asked everyone — office and field — how AI shows up in their work, how they feel about it, and what would help. The survey's now closed. Here's the full picture.
55 responses · survey closed Sept 21, 2026 — final results
Who we heard from
A real cross-section of Collage
Plus a few who preferred not to say their department. Every department answered — a genuine mix of the office and the field, not one corner of the company.
The themes below held steady from the first responses to the last — a good sign they reflect the company, not a vocal few.
What's actually happening today
AI is already in the building
How often people currently use AI tools for work.
The headline: more than two out of three respondents already use AI in some way — 21 of them weekly or daily. This isn't a question of whether Collage adopts AI; people already have. The open question is how to do it well — and how to bring along the third who haven't started.
Which tools they're reaching for
Check-all-that-apply, so totals exceed the number of people. A spread of tools is already in use — including plenty not on any company account.
The clearest case for a policy: AI is already here, but mostly on personal accounts and without a rulebook — and 19 people have held back simply because they didn't know if it was allowed. An approved-tools list on company accounts, plus clear rules, turns today's quiet, unmanaged use into something safe and supported.
The human read
Curious — and careful
Everyone could check as many as applied. The two that lead say a lot.
Curious and Cautious are tied at the top — and Optimistic, Excited and Hopeful all rank high, while anxious, frustrated and overwhelmed barely register. That's not a workforce that's afraid of AI, and it's not one that's naïve about it either. It's exactly the posture a good policy is built for: open to the upside, clear-eyed about the risks.
What would help
What people are asking us for
What would help you use AI well and safely at work? — check all that apply.
Training is the #1 ask company-wide — the same thing the task force put first. Clear rules and an approved tools list follow right behind. People aren't asking to be left alone with AI, and they're not asking for it to be banned. They're asking to be shown how.
What worries them
One concern came up far more than any other, in answer after answer: people leaning on AI without checking it — treating confident-sounding output as fact.
"AI at Collage needs to be a tool to cut out the tedious work, not provide the answer to a problem."
Close behind it, two more themes: data security — proprietary or client information ending up in the wrong place — and a thoughtful worry about over-dependence dulling the critical thinking the work demands. A handful remain firmly skeptical, and their point deserves to be heard:
"Our industry requires minds that are good at critical thinking and problem solving. We should constantly be developing our own intelligence."
The optimists, meanwhile, were just as clear about keeping AI in its place — a tool, not a replacement:
"Used the right way, it can help grow the company… It doesn't hang drywall, pour concrete, or manage a sub. We still run the show."
What it shapes
What the company's answers point to
Different departments, office and field, users and non-users — and yet the responses line up remarkably well. Five things stand out:
- 01It's a “how,” not a “whether.”More than two in three already use AI. The policy's job is to guide real use, not debate hypothetical use.
- 02Most use is on personal accounts today.31 of 38 users are on personal tools. Approved tools on company accounts is the most urgent, most concrete win.
- 03The mood is curious, not fearful.Lead with enablement and guardrails — and take the skeptics' concerns seriously rather than steamrolling them.
- 04Training is the number-one request.Company-wide, training tops the list — exactly where the task force is already focused.
- 05Everyone fears the same failure.Confidently-wrong output, used without checking. The policy's core answer: AI is a draft, never a finished product — a person verifies before we rely on it.
Thank you to everyone who took five honest minutes — all 55 of you. It's directly shaping Collage's AI Use Policy.