If you thought RTO battles were bad, wait until AI mandates start taking hold across the industry

Barely a month has passed over the last three years without some form of internal strife over return to office (RTO) mandates across a raft of industries.

Corporate giants like JP Morgan, Google, Dell Technologies, and Amazon all introduced new rules aimed at forcing workers back into the office under the auspices of boosting team synergy and rekindling the collaborative spark of the pre-pandemic glory days.

After years working from home and with a more flexible daily routine, many workers naturally pushed back. After all, who wants to go through the grind of the daily commute and end up spending office-based meetings in Teams or Google Meet anyway?

With the advent of generative AI and the incessant beating of the drum by executives hellbent on unlocking productivity gains, we could see a revival of the dreaded workforce mandate –- only this time with AI.

We’ve already had a glimpse of the same RTO tactics being used with AI over the last year. In mid-2025, Microsoft introduced new rules aimed at boosting AI use across the company, with an internal memo warning staff that “using AI is no longer optional”.

The memo, penned by Julia Liuson, head of the division responsible for products such as GitHub Copilot, urged managers to evaluate employee performance based on their use of the technology.

"AI is now a fundamental part of how we work," Liuson told staff. "Just like collaboration, data-driven thinking, and effective communication, using AI is no longer optional — it's core to every role and every level."

Assessing employee performance based on AI use is a practice straight from the same RTO playbook that organizations have employed frequently. In 2023, for example, Google revealed office attendance could play a part in performance reviews as the company introduced new tracking measures to keep tabs on office attendance.

These policies appear to be focused purely on enforcing conformity and ensuring workers toe the party line - we’re an AI-first company now, so get on board or get out.

Use AI or miss out on promotions

Earlier this month, claims circulated that Accenture has ordered senior staff to increase their use of AI tools or risk losing out on promotions.

According to reports in the Financial Times, an internal email sent to senior managers and directors noted that “regular adoption” of the technology would be considered when pursuing promotions.

As with RTO mandates, we’re now reaching a point where upward mobility within the enterprise could be at risk as a result of AI use. It’s a tactic initially touted by Dell in 2024 when enforcing its own hybrid work rules, which prompted a fierce backlash among staff.

Forcing workers to use AI or risk losing out on promotions will have the desired effect executives want, namely that employees will use the technology, but that’s missing the point entirely.

AI has been framed by many big tech providers as a prime opportunity to supercharge productivity and streamline enterprise efficiency. We’ve all heard the marketing jargon.

If business leaders are at the point where they’re forcing staff to use the technology, it begs the question of whether it’s actually having the desired effect, which recent analysis suggests it’s not.

What this amounts to is a desperate need for a return on investment (ROI) and the ability to present the board with hard figures on AI use. If everyone’s using it, then that’s one box ticked in terms of justifying huge investment in a new suite of shiny tools.

That same mentality has been reflected in the rabid RTO push we’ve witnessed over the last three years. With staff working from home en-masse, companies such as Amazon must’ve been wondering why they’d spent more than $2 billion on a new corporate campus.

There’s some wiggle room

AI-related mandates are now moving beyond simply forcing employees to use the technology. Indeed, many enterprises are now forcing workers to learn applicable skills.

Recent analysis from CompTIA found roughly one-third of companies now require staff to complete AI training. Simply put, this equates to an end-to-end AI mandate: you’re being forced to complete AI training, and thereafter you must use it.

Admittedly, this is an area where one can justify a degree of enforcement given the direction the industry is going. Ensuring employees have the necessary skills to use the tools you’re shoving down their throats makes sense.

CompTIA noted that enterprises that fail to upskill staff risk falling behind competitors. Given the money thrown around on this front, it’s hardly surprising, but once again comes down to the enforcement aspects.

Encouragement will always deliver better results than punishment, and employee buy-in during any transformation is crucial.