A growing number of employees are secretly hoarding their most effective AI prompts to maintain a competitive advantage over coworkers. New research from Use.AI and Many, a workplace analytics firm, found that 38% of workers who regularly use AI admit to keeping these shortcuts to themselves.

What You Need to Know

Nearly two-thirds of AI-using employees believe superior AI skills give them an edge. Many of these workers worry that sharing prompts would erode their personal productivity advantage. The survey also found that 41% of AI users fear colleagues and managers will discover how much time the technology saves them. This secretive behavior suggests companies may need to rethink how they evaluate and reward AI proficiency.

The Hidden AI Advantage

Use.AI and Many surveyed 13,276 adults who use AI at work across the UK, US, Canada, Australia, the EU and Latin America. The results show a clear pattern of gatekeeping. Among the 38% who hoard prompts, nearly half (44%) said they did not want colleagues to gain the same productivity boost. Another 31% argued they had invested the time to develop those prompts and deserved to keep the edge.

  • 41% of AI users: Worried that managers would learn how much time AI saves them.
  • 36% of workers: Admitted hiding AI use from coworkers.
  • 21% of employees: Concealed their AI skills from their direct manager.

The Trust Gap

The survey points to a deepening trust gap in the workplace. Employees fear that if their productivity gains become visible, they will face higher expectations without additional rewards. This anxiety is especially acute among those who have invested significant time learning to craft effective prompts.

Ihor Herasymov, co-founder and CEO of Use.AI, described the situation as a growing tension. He noted that employees quickly recognize when sharing their private know-how benefits the organization but weakens their own position. Companies, he argues, may need to think more carefully about how they reward people who turn private expertise into shared capability.

Why This Matters

The hoarding of AI prompts threatens to undermine the collaborative potential of workplace AI. If left unchecked, this behavior could create knowledge silos where only a few employees hold the keys to maximum efficiency. Companies that fail to address this tension may see slower adoption of AI tools and uneven productivity gains across teams. Performance metrics that reward individual output over collective improvement will likely fuel further secrecy. The survey suggests that organizations must shift toward evaluating how employees share and scale their AI skills, not just how fast they produce results. Otherwise, the very tools meant to boost productivity could end up deepening workplace inequality.