ISACA’s 2025 AI Pulse Poll provides new insights into how digital trust professionals and their organizations are approaching AI training and skill development, as well as the potential risks associated with AI adoption—ultimately shaping the future of work.
ISACA’s annual AI Pulse Poll, which surveyed 3,029 digital trust professionals worldwide, delves into AI usage, training, and risk prioritization in the workplace, finding both areas of promise and room for improvement.
AI has becomes top of mind for companies across virtually all sectors, and a large majority are now using AI at work—81 percent of respondents believe employees within their organization use AI, whether it is permitted or not. Sixty-eight percent of respondents say that the use of AI has resulted in time savings for them and their organization, and more than half (56%) believe that AI will have a positive impact on their career in the next year. The technology is being used in a range of ways, including:
- To create written content (52%)
- To increase productivity (51%)
- To automate repetitive tasks (40%)
- Analyzing large amounts of data (38%)
- Customer service (33%)
While strides have been made in AI policies and training, there is still much needed progress. Only 28 percent of organizations have a formal, comprehensive policy in place for AI (up from 15 percent last year). Though 59 percent of organizations say they permit the use of generative AI (up from 42 percent last year), 32 percent of respondents say there is no AI training provided to any employees, 35 percent provide training only to those in IT-related positions, and only 22 percent train all employees.
ISACA Now blog author Chasserae Coyne encourages organizations to start with a pilot program.
“Before rolling out an enterprise-wide AI solution, start small with some low-risk AI projects,” Coyne writes. “This will allow you to safely explore the potential of AI, demonstrate what value it could bring to the organization, gather feedback, and identify training needs for a wider, diversified audience.”
While many are using AI, they may not all fully understand it—56 percent say they are just somewhat familiar with AI, with only 6 percent saying they are extremely familiar and 28 percent consider themselves to be very familiar.
“Different employees have different learning needs,” Coyne writes. “As you begin training a wider audience, you’ll need to ensure that you provide flexible, personalized learning opportunities to address specific needs, roles and learning styles within the organization. This could include both structured and informal AI learning programs, the latter of which is particularly useful to remote teams.”
Respondents recognize the vital importance of AI skills in a work landscape that is quickly evolving because of this technology. Nearly a third say that organizations are increasing jobs for AI-related functions in the next 12 months, and 85 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree that many jobs will be modified due to AI.
While 84 percent of digital trust professionals consider themselves to have just a beginner or intermediate level of expertise in AI, 72 percent believe that AI skills are very or extremely important for professionals in their field right now. Eighty-nine percent say they will need AI training within the next two years to advance their careers or even keep their current roles, and 45 percent say it is needed within the next six months.
Access the pulse poll and related resources at www.isaca.org/ai-pulse-poll.
ISACA offers a range of other AI resources, including the Artificial Intelligence Audit Toolkit and several courses—including AI Fundamentals, AI Governance, and AI Threat Landscape. ISACA has also recently released its new Advanced in AI Audit (AAIA) certification—a first-of-its-kind certification that can be earned by professionals with a CISA or another qualifying credential*— and will be launching its Advanced in AI Security Management (AAISM) certification, which can be earned by CISMs and CISSPs, in August.
*Those with an active credential from the following list are eligible to pursue the AAIA:
All qualify:
- CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor from ISACA)
Must be in an IT audit or IT advisory role to qualify:
- CIA (Certified Internal Auditor from the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA))
- CPA (Certified Public Accountant from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA))
- ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Qualification from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
- FFCA (ACCA Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA))
- Canadian CPA (Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada)
- CPA Australia (Certified Practicing Accountant)
- FCPA (CPA Australia Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant)
- Japanese CPA (Japanese Certified Public Accountant from the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA))