Three years into the enterprise AI boom, an uncomfortable truth is emerging: the technology works, but the workforce isn’t following. Stalled pilots, lukewarm adoption rates, and underwhelming ROI are becoming as familiar as the fluffy press releases that preceded them. The bottleneck isn’t compute power or model capability – it’s human behavior.
For contact center and CX leaders wrestling with AI rollouts that stall at the pilot stage, gamification is emerging as one of the more credible, if underestimated, answers to low AI adoption rates. PwC’s approach is the clearest signal yet that this HR novelty could become a true board-level strategy.
Why Are So Many AI Rollouts Failing to Stick?
Despite the trillions that enterprises have invested in AI technologies, the results so far have been tepid at best. Gartner estimates that 85% of AI projects will fail to deliver their intended outcomes – not because the models don’t work, but because the people they’re built for won’t adopt them. Meanwhile, McKinsey’s latest State of AI report found that just one-third of organizations have managed to scale AI beyond isolated pilots. It’s the technology equivalent of buying a treadmill as a New Year’s resolution, only for it to gather dust in the garage.
Employee resistance to AI is a complex problem. Salesforce research points to a cluster of overlapping barriers, such as fear of job displacement, distrust in AI-generated outputs, and inadequate training, as the primary reasons workers disengage, with over half bypassing approved AI tools entirely.
Underneath all of it is a more fundamental issue: employees who don’t understand why they should adopt a tool, or what’s in it for them, simply won’t.
What Is PwC Doing – and Does It Work?
Speaking at Google Cloud Next, Dallas Dolen, PwC’s Technology, Media & Telecom Leader, was candid about where the real friction lies in AI transformation:
“Change management is really tough. […] Actually, it’s the hardest part.”
PwC’s approach, deployed across a workforce of 300,000 people in over 150 countries, has been to lean into gamification as a structured change management mechanism. It is intended to act as a deliberate behaviour-change layer, incentivising employees to build AI literacy through competitive training mechanics and sustaining ongoing AI tool usage through engagement loops tied to real workflow activity.
Crucially, Dolen also described the disciplinary counterpart to this strategy. PwC has shut down teams spending too heavily on tokens for low-value use cases. Gamification, in this framing, is not about indiscriminately mandating AI use, as Shopify has. It is about directing behavior toward the right tasks, with governance and ROI discipline built in from the start.
Is Gamification a Serious Enterprise Strategy?
In BBC sit-com The Thick of It, Roger Allam’s ‘Peter Mannion’ describes a policy of his political counterpart as “A political meringue… Sweet, but lightweight and very little substance.” Gamification in the contact center has often had the same problem.
Leaderboards, badge systems, and engagement mechanics have failed to truly click with teams and have been perceived as condescending add-ons. Indeed, Gartner predicted in 2012 that 80% of gamified applications would fail due to poor design. A significant proportion did. After all, what overworked adult really wants a gold star for doing their job?
But the current moment is perhaps different…
Firstly, AI adoption is increasingly becoming a strategic imperative with measurable P&L consequences, raising the stakes. Deloitte data shows enterprises expect an average ROI of 171% from AI investments, yet the majority are nowhere near realizing it.
Second, the design has matured. Enterprise gamification is now embedded in WEM platforms such as Verint, NICE CXone, Calabrio, and Genesys. They have shifted away from public competition toward personalised progress tracking, skill-building milestones, and the design of intrinsic motivation.
TalentLMS research found that 89% of employees say gamification makes them feel more productive at work, and 85% say it increases their engagement. Organizations deploying gamification report productivity increases of up to 50% and engagement gains of 60%, according to Zippia analysis of enterprise data. These could be true strategic imperatives.
How Should Contact Center Leaders Approach Gamification?
The contact center is, in one sense, an ideal environment for this approach. It is already a measured, data-rich space with established performance benchmarks. Overlaying AI adoption metrics – whether an agent is using AI-assisted summarization, real-time coaching prompts, or next-best-action recommendations – onto existing WEM dashboards is technically feasible today.
The design challenge is ensuring that mechanics reward quality adoption rather than surface-level compliance.
What Are the Risks of Gamification?
There are several key risks to consider when evaluating a gamification project. Poorly designed gamification in high-pressure environments can accelerate burnout, particularly if agents feel surveilled rather than supported. Transparency in how scores are calculated, and genuine employee input into the design of engagement mechanics, remain critical safeguards. Furthermore, a points system imposed from above, without employee buy-in, risks becoming another source of workplace friction rather than a solution.
The leadership lesson from PwC’s approach is precisely this: gamification works when it is designed with behavioral intent, not deployed as a technological shortcut.
The Bottom Line
AI will not deliver its promised returns through technology alone. The workforce layer is where the real battle for ROI is being fought. PwC’s experiment at 300,000 people is an early proof point that gamification, applied with strategic discipline rather than surface-level design, could be an effective change-management strategy.
The organizations treating adoption as seriously as the technology itself are the ones that will pull ahead.
The ones that don’t will be left sitting on expensive infrastructure, immaculate strategy decks, and a workforce quietly pretending the AI button isn’t there.
FAQs
What is gamification, and how can it drive AI adoption?
Gamification uses competitive mechanics, progress milestones, and behavioral incentives to encourage employees to engage with and consistently use AI tools in their daily workflows.
Why are employees resistant to using AI tools at work?
Research from Salesforce identifies distrust, lack of training, and change fatigue as the primary drivers of employee AI avoidance, affecting over half of the workforce.
Which WEM platforms currently offer gamification features?
Verint, NICE CXone, Calabrio, and Genesys all incorporate gamification capabilities within their broader workforce engagement management suites.
Does gamification improve productivity?
TalentLMS data shows 89% of employees report improved productivity with gamification; enterprise-level analysis suggests productivity gains of up to 50%.
What are the risks of using gamification in a contact center?
Poorly designed systems can create anxiety, perceived surveillance, and burnout – making transparent design, employee input, and behavioral intent essential prerequisites.
How is PwC using gamification for AI adoption?
PwC deploys gamification across AI training pathways and live tool usage to drive adoption among its 300,000-person global workforce, with governance guardrails to prevent low-value AI consumption.
