How to keep tech workers engaged in the age of AI

It’s no secret that IT workers can easily get burned out. They often have too much to do and feel stressed trying to keep up with technology that’s always changing. The meteoric growth of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, in business has only exacerbated the problem, with tech workers feeling pressure to learn relevant skills and even fearing they’ll be replaced by bots.

Another factor contributing to IT burnout is the rise of remote and hybrid work since the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020. The continuous demands of hybrid work environments aggravate worker stress, often leading to a blurring of personal and professional boundaries, said Manu Sood, SVP of technology at AvidXchange.

When employees feel burned out, they may disengage from their jobs, resulting in a loss of productivity, creativity, and innovation. Managers should be on the alert for behavioral changes that indicate employee disengagement, such as turning off cameras in virtual meetings, minimal participation in those meetings, limited sharing of ideas, and opting out of in-person collaboration, said Forrester analyst Fiona Mark.

“The biggest one I see is that if the group behavior changes from being a group that shares and connects and challenges each other… to a group that becomes more about consensus but without that challenge, you’re starting to see a pullback from caring about the outcomes [of their work],” she said.

There are steps IT managers can take to remedy this situation — or ideally stave it off before it ever gets that far. Follow these techniques to keep your workforce motivated and eager to use AI to enhance their work.

Listen to employee concerns and support their well-being

To keep technology workers engaged during rapid technology advancements, IT managers should prioritize open communication with employees, along with recognition, training, and career development, said IDC analyst Ritu Jyoti. Encouraging dialogue through check-ins and feedback sessions helps employees feel heard and boosts morale, she said.

“I think the number one thing that IT managers have to do is to encourage open communication — basically, foster an environment where team members feel comfortable in sharing their concerns,” she said.

IT managers should check in with employees before burnout becomes a serious issue, noted Forrester’s Mark. To make sure employees feel heard, it’s important to do more listening to their concerns than prescribing fixes, she said.

“The number one thing that IT managers have to do is to encourage open communication.” — Ritu Jyoti, IDC

Tech leaders should actively promote and enforce clear work-life boundaries for their teams, said AvidXchange’s Sood. That includes encouraging employees to take time off to recharge, which is essential to ensure their long-term productivity and well-being.

“I personally encourage my teams to take regular breaks, take time off to recharge, not continue to bank their personal time off but actually use their PTO for resting and recharging,” she said. “We also provide mental health resources through programs like employee assistance programs and … employee-led meetup groups that encourage employees to connect with each other to regularly focus on their well-being and mental health.”

Present AI as not just a challenge but an opportunity

AI’s ability to bring big changes can seem overwhelming, especially when employees worry that it might replace their jobs. But there are ways IT leaders can help their teams see AI as an opportunity, not just a challenge.

Daniela LaCelle, head of IT delivery at insurance company Unum, said it’s important to present AI as a tool that helps and supports people, not something that takes their place. Burnout is a concern in fast-paced tech environments, she said, but AI can help alleviate this issue by automating repetitive tasks.

LaCelle stressed that seeing AI as an enabler rather than a threat shifts the focus toward opportunities rather than fears. This shift allows teams to focus on strategic and creative work, which encourages greater engagement while easing employees’ fears about job security.

Nimrod Partush, VP data science at exposure management software vendor CYE, concurred.

“We view AI as a powerful enhancement tool that allows our team to accomplish far more, rather than as a replacement for human talent,” he said. “The idea of reducing personnel hasn’t come up. If anything, AI amplifies the value of great team members. Those who contribute meaningfully are indispensable, and with AI, they can bring even greater value to the team.”

Instead of issuing a top-down directive, IT managers should involve employees in AI integration, said Forrester’s Mark. By emphasizing that adopting AI is a team effort and a learning process, IT leaders can ease employee fears and ensure everyone works together toward the organization’s goals.

“So when you think about that, it’s, ‘How can we use AI to make the work that you do easier for you so that you can be more productive and more valuable?’” she said.

Keyur Ajmera, CIO at recruiting software maker iCIMS, said it’s important to show employees clear examples of how AI can be used and the benefits it brings. One of the strategies he uses to keep his team interested and involved is gamification: challenging them to solve problems using AI tools.

For example, one problem Ajmera wanted his team to solve was improving how they use generative AI for creating images, specifically through effective prompt engineering. To do this, Ajmera introduced an internal gamification challenge asking team members to “act like AI co-pilots” and generate the best possible image that addressed a specific problem (capturing aspects A, B, and C).

He noted that this approach, which has been particularly successful, got everyone involved, boosted curiosity about AI, and made learning fun by celebrating the best results.

Foster (and make time for) learning and development

With technology, especially AI, changing so quickly, it’s crucial for employees to keep learning and developing new skills, said Vishal Gupta, CTO and CIO at Lexmark. To that end, the company, which offers printing and imaging products and services, has invested in several upskilling initiatives.

“We’ve partnered with North Carolina State [University] on our AI Academy, and we’ve gotten 100 people trained as data scientists,” he said. “We also offer an AI foundations course and a technology rotation program to give people a variety of skills.”

Upskilling and reskilling employees helps them embrace emerging technologies like AI, said Unum’s LaCelle. When IT managers equip workers to adapt to new technologies, their fear of these new tools decreases and their engagement naturally improves, she said.

“In my experience, burnout only happens when we stop learning and stop striving to see over the next hill.” — Prasad Sankaran, Cognizant

Indeed, Prasad Sankaran, EVP, software and platform engineering at IT services provider Cognizant, said continuous learning is the key to keeping his staff motivated and engaged.

“Cognizant’s culture of continuous learning keeps our associates fired up and ready for the next challenge,” he said. “In my experience, burnout only happens when we stop learning and stop striving to see over the next hill. This is why I prioritize continuous learning across my team.”

The company’s Synapse program, launched in 2023, focuses on helping employees boost their skills and stay engaged, Sankaran said. The goal of the program is to train one million people, and so far, it has helped more than 195,000 employees learn advanced genAI skills.

“For example, multi-agent, multimodal AI technology is emerging as a powerful lever to accelerate autonomous AI adoption,” he said. “We continuously invest in skilling our workforce so they are equipped with the skills, including AI, blockchain, cloud, data, Internet of Things, modern engineering, and more, to deliver innovations for our clients.”

Sankaran said Cognizant has also introduced differentiated career tracks, such as full stack engineer, site reliability engineer, software development engineer in test, distinguished architect, and domain architect, to provide an opportunity for teams to pursue their interests.

“With the right skills, exciting work, and knowledge, the potential of what’s possible is what gets us out of bed each day, and it keeps us going and keeps us motivated,” he added.

David Curtis, CTO at supply chain management firm RobobAI, said that keeping IT teams engaged requires a balance of ongoing skill-building, staying aligned with fast-changing business goals, and creating a culture that encourages innovation. If people don’t have a chance to explore and try new things, they won’t be as interested in their work, he added.

But achieving this balance can be difficult when IT teams are under pressure to meet the immediate demands of the business. As such, Curtis allocates time for his team to learn new technologies, improve their skills, or work on creative projects to keep things fresh and prevent them from getting stuck in a routine.

“Recognizing the time constraints many IT teams face, we allocate ‘experimental’ time in their schedules, empowering them to learn and explore AI technologies with the support of the broader business,” he said.

Emphasize IT teams as business partners

Maintaining high levels of engagement among the technology workforce requires ongoing effort, said Lexmark’s Gupta. One way the company keeps its technology staff motivated and engaged is to ensure they feel connected to the company’s primary goal, which is prioritizing the needs and successes of its customers.

“First, we actively involve IT teams in customer advisory boards and customer engagement initiatives, allowing them to hear firsthand how their innovations translate into real-world solutions for our clients and also to hear the challenges that our customers are facing,” he said. “Second, we provide opportunities for IT staff to rotate through different roles, including those with direct customer interaction, broadening their understanding of customer needs.”

Finally, Gupta said, Lexmark celebrates and recognizes big wins internally throughout the company. Tech employees are lauded for their achievements to show that what they do ends up making a difference. This in turns inspires others to better tie their own work to Lexmark’s goals, he added.

Gupta also noted that Lexmark’s IT teams are now experiencing a “pull” from the business side, where the board, management team, and employees are coming to IT with ideas and requests to try AI and other new technologies. This is a shift from the typical “push” scenario, where IT has to promote the technology to the business side.

“This is a great opportunity for IT teams to become true business partners, and instead of trying to always advocate for technology, actually experience the pull effect and co-create a real transformation of the business,” he said.

Support personal growth and recognize achievements

Gupta wasn’t the only IT leader who said recognition is a great way to keep tech workers motivated and engaged. Whether through public acknowledgment, rewards, or additional time off, showing appreciation for staffers’ work builds loyalty and a positive work environment.

AvidXchange’s Sood, for example, rewards her staff who work extra hours with compensatory time off, letting them know that their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Growth happens when you apply what you learn in ways that create real impact.” — Eric Stavola, Visual Edge IT

Eric Stavola, VP, managed services sales and special programs at IT service provider Visual Edge IT, noted that people are typically motivated by financial reward, recognition, and personal growth. “With engineers, believe it or not, personal growth and recognition are very important,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, the finances are also important, but typically that comes off the board once they’re hired.”

Personal growth isn’t about stacking up certifications or chasing the next title, Stavola said. It’s about becoming more valuable, period.

“Whether you’re an engineer, a manager, or a CIO, growth happens when you apply what you learn in ways that create real impact,” he said. “I’ve seen too many tech professionals fall into the trap of ‘more knowledge equals more success.’ But knowledge without application is useless. What really moves the needle? Connecting technical expertise to business outcomes, learning to solve bigger problems, and owning challenges outside your job description. That’s what makes you indispensable.”

Understanding that engineers value personal growth and recognition as much as financial rewards, Stavola prioritizes these aspects to keep employees motivated. The key to real growth is intentional, structured development — not just hoping your team figures it out, he said.

Stavola said his approach involves:

Tactical learning that sticks: “I build micro-courses and hands-on training that cut through the noise and focus on real-world application,” he said. “No generic theory — just practical skills you can use immediately to solve real problems.”

Coaching over managing: A manager assigns tasks. A coach develops people. “I focus on creating feedback-driven performance environments, where learning is constant, and improvement is expected,” Stavola said.

Recognition as a daily habit, not an annual event: The best work in IT often goes unnoticed because success means nothing breaks. “That’s why I focus on recognizing strategic wins, not just visible results,” he said. “Small acknowledgments — a quick message, a shoutout in a meeting, or time invested in mentorship — are often more impactful than a formal award.”

Creating learning environments that allow failure: Growth requires safe spaces to test and refine skills. “I build sandbox environments and real-world training scenarios where people can experiment, make mistakes, and improve without risk to the business,” Stavola said.

Clear career playbooks: Nobody wants to guess their next move. “I use structured frameworks like runbooks and career pathing tools to make success repeatable and measurable,” he said. “That way, career progression isn’t just luck — it’s a process.”

Expanding identity beyond the tech role: Too many tech professionals box themselves into being “the IT guy.” Stavola said he pushes people to develop business acumen, problem-solving skills, and cross-functional collaboration so they’re seen as strategic assets, not just technical resources.

“Personal growth happens when people are challenged, equipped, and recognized,” Stavola said. “And recognition isn’t just about giving credit — it’s about showing people their work matters in ways that inspire them to push further.”

Practice all of the above

Bottom line: IT leaders need to create a supportive environment where workers can keep learning, advance their careers, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. By offering training, involving them in exciting AI projects, encouraging their personal growth, and showing that their work is appreciated, IT managers can keep their teams motivated and ready for the future.

“For me, keeping tech workers engaged requires a holistic approach,” said Unum’s LaCelle. “We focus on creating opportunities for continuous learning, growth, meaningful work. We emphasize mentorship, career progressions, really fostering a sense of community within our organization. And lastly, clear communications around goals and celebrating achievements, both individual and collective, really helps keep engagement high.”