Hong Kong shows an AI gap as employees use it and leaders lag

On June 10, 2026, McKinsey published survey findings on AI use in Hong Kong. Data collection began on February 11, 2026 and covered 4,521 workers and students. The results show a market where artificial intelligence is already common but not evenly managed. AI tools have been adopted by 70 percent of office workers, more than 90 percent of users work with them daily and 88 percent report improved productivity. Behind those numbers lies a weakness. Fewer than a quarter of people use AI for an entire workflow from start to finish. Most treat it as support, not full automation. More than 90 percent of respondents feel comfortable using AI for supporting tasks, but only 40 percent are willing to accept full workflow automation. That is an important distinction for companies expecting a quick leap in performance. The strongest warning concerns leadership. Only 14 percent of top executives use AI several times a day, four to five times less than managers and younger employees. Arthur Shek, managing partner of McKinsey Hong Kong, says: Hong Kong has built an emergingly AI-ready workforce, but only 14% of executives are keeping pace. In other words, people lower in the organisation are already working differently while some leaders still make decisions as observers. The survey also includes students. More than half expect to use AI regularly in their future work, and another 14 percent expect it to be involved in almost every workflow. In total, 73 percent of students prefer roles where AI plays at least a supporting role, and 93 percent are developing AI-related skills, especially creativity, innovation and effective communication with tools. The lesson is transferable beyond Hong Kong. Giving employees access to a tool is not enough. If leaders do not use AI themselves, they cannot decide well which processes to change, where to set data protection rules and how to measure impact. McKinsey lists cybersecurity, data protection, unclear use cases, limited access and insufficient training as main barriers. That is a board-level agenda, not only an IT task.

Hong Kong shows an AI gap as employees use it and leaders lag

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