Employers’ benefits teams are playing catch-up when it comes to AI, but they plan to embrace the technology more in the coming years, according to a May 19 survey from risk-management services provider WTW.
WTW’s “2026 AI Use in Health and Benefits Survey” featured 312 employers with 4.6 million U.S. employees.
Here are five notes on how employers are pacing with AI in benefits:
1. While only 20% of employers report active AI deployment in benefits, 72% expect to embed AI in benefits programs within the next two years.
2. About 71% of benefits teams say they have limited or no access to internal AI skills and resources, even when their organization provides enterprise-grade capabilities in other departments, indicating a substantial readiness gap. Only 1% of employers have fully fleshed-out AI governance or roadmaps that pertain specifically to benefits, but 56% said they are considering or addressing this.
3. Employers said their biggest barriers with AI use were data privacy and security (70%), AI errors (66%), and legal compliance and fiduciary exposure (64%).
4. AI use cases in benefits operations include stronger communication, data analytics and personalized support, according to 68%, 59% and 57% of respondents, respectively.
5. Sixteen percent of employers are “early adopters” of AI. Along with more robust internal capabilities, many of these employers are leaning on external partners.
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