One thing that might get workers to embrace AI? The 4-day workweek.

• Adopting a four-day workweek could boost employees' support for using AI on the job.
• CEOs report that some workers are resisting the technology, despite firms making big investments.
• Authors of a book on a four-day workweek say that the setup could let workers share in AI's gains.

Bosses, if you're struggling to get your people excited about AI, here's one idea: Embrace the four-day workweek.

Sharing some of AI's promised efficiency gains with employees — by letting them work fewer hours, not just get more done — could help get workers on board with a technology that some fear might ultimately replace them, authors of a new book advocating for a shorter workweek told Business Insider.

Letting workers put in four days' work for five days' pay would be one way to "share the rewards" of innovation and technological advancement, said Jared Lindzon, a coauthor of the book "Do More in Four."

When it comes to AI, giving workers more time away from their jobs could make it more likely they'd get behind the technology "because they're getting part of that benefit," rather than standing in the way of it, he said.

Joe O'Connor, Lindzon's coauthor, said that when it comes to discussions about AI in the workplace, the conversation among workers often turns to fears of job cuts.

'Cultural resistance and emotional friction'

Anxiety about AI-induced layoffs might be one reason rolling out the technology has proven difficult for some companies. In an early 2025 survey of business leaders in eight countries from the IT company Kyndryl, 45% of CEOs said their workers were resisting the technology.

"Cultural resistance and emotional friction" are the biggest impediments to AI adoption, Boston Consulting Group reported in 2025. That's unwelcome news for C-suite decision-makers eager to ratchet up efficiency. One in three companies is pumping at least $25 million into AI, according to BCG.

Business leaders have, at times, publicly expressed their frustration over some workers' foot-dragging.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in 2025 that he'd gone "rogue" in firing some workers at the crypto exchange who didn't adopt AI after being told to do so. The head of the software company IgniteTech has, meanwhile, lamented that "changing minds was harder than adding skills." In recent years, the firm cut nearly eight in 10 workers after they failed to quickly embrace AI.

Nurturing the productivity gains that many leaders seek will often require people to perform different kinds of work — especially as AI takes over some tasks, O'Connor said. He expects that demand for creativity, judgment, critical thinking, and adaptability will increase and that those "fundamentally human" traits won't be fostered by simply moving faster or working longer, he said.

"It's going to be more about maximizing people's energy, maximizing people's motivation, maximizing people's well-being and recovery," O'Connor said. A four-day workweek could promote those things, he said.

Some leaders expect workweeks will shrink

The idea that AI could allow people to work less isn't new. For years, the technology's advocates have said it could free up humans to do more of what they love, while handing off the grunt work to bots. The CEO of startup Mechanize, for example, says the company's aim is to automate every job.

That notion has led some of the biggest corporate luminaries to predict that working hours could plummet as AI adoption increases. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has said that time on the clock might shrink to two days, while JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon has said workweeks of 3.5 days could become a thing.

Even Nvidia's Jensen Huang — known for regularly putting in 14-hour days at the chipmaker and working on holidays — has said he could see the tech allowing for more time away from the office.

Politicians have weighed in, too. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, citing efficiency gains from technology such as AI, introduced legislation in 2024 to trim the standard workweek to 32 hours.

There hasn't yet been widespread adoption of the four-day workweek, likely in part because employers wield more power in many parts of the job market. O'Connor said that while adoption of four-day setups was lower in 2025 than in 2023, when far more workers were job-hopping, more employers are opting for shorter weeks than before the pandemic upended norms about work.

Not all CEOs will be ready to give up the gains

Umesh Ramakrishnan, cofounder of the executive search and leadership advisory firm Kingsley Gate, told Business Insider that many leaders, himself included, would want to harness AI's productivity gains to boost a business's top and bottom lines.

"If you have a day to spare, get me more revenue, get me more profit," he said, adding that while it might sound "heartless," that's simply how business works.

Yet, Lindzon said, asking workers to be 20% more effective — the equivalent of a single day in a standard workweek — so that they might benefit from that boost is likely to be more effective than asking them to do it for the good of the company.

"It completely changes the conversation from a 'You have to do this' to 'We get to do this together,'" he said.

Do you have a story to share about your career? Contact this reporter at tparadis@businessinsider.com.