Infosys and MIT Technology Review Insights Report Reveals the Critical Role of Psychological Safety in Driving AI Initiatives -- with 83% of Business Leaders Reporting a Measurable Impact
Infosys (INFY) and MIT Technology Review Insights released a global report on Dec 16, 2025, finding that 83% of business leaders say psychological safety measurably impacts enterprise AI success.
Rhea-AI Summary
Infosys (INFY) and MIT Technology Review Insights released a global report on Dec 16, 2025, finding that 83% of business leaders say psychological safety measurably impacts enterprise AI success.
The report highlights gaps: only 39% rate their psychological safety as high while 48% call it moderate, and leaders cite fear of failure, unclear communication and limited openness as key adoption barriers. It recommends explicit messaging on AI capabilities, limits and approved use cases and links cultural change to faster, safer AI adoption using Infosys Topaz.
Positive
- 83% of leaders say psychological safety impacts AI success
- 84% report links between psychological safety and business outcomes
- Infosys positions Topaz alongside cultural guidance for AI adoption
Negative
- Only 39% describe psychological safety as high
- 22% hesitated to lead AI projects due to fear of failure
- Cultural gaps (communication, leadership openness) threaten AI scaling
Details
News Market Reaction – INFY
On Dec 16, the day this news came out, INFY closed 0.06% below the previous close.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus for the Dec 16 session.
Key Figures
- Impact of psychological safety
- 83%
- Leaders saying psychological safety measurably impacts AI success
- Business outcomes link
- 84%
- Leaders reporting links between psychological safety and business outcomes
- Hesitated to lead AI project
- 22%
- Respondents who hesitated due to fear of failure or criticism
- Safe to give feedback
- 73%
- Respondents feeling safe to provide honest feedback at work
- High psychological safety
- 39%
- Respondents rating workplace psychological safety as high
- Moderate psychological safety
- 48%
- Respondents reporting a moderate degree of psychological safety
- Job impact clarity
- 60%
- Who say clarity on AI’s impact on jobs would help most
- Leadership openness
- 51%
- Who cite leadership modeling openness as critical to safety
Historical Context
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Sopra Steria named a new CEO with digital transformation background.
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Unveiled AI-first GCC model to turn centers into AI innovation hubs.
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Announced AI agent to enhance energy sector operations and insights.
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Launched Infosys Topaz Fabric stack to accelerate enterprise AI adoption.
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Extended collaboration with Metro Bank and Workday to modernize finance ops.
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Key Terms
psychological safety technical
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
New report from Infosys and MIT Technology Review Insights shows that trust, transparency and a 'safe to fail' culture are essential for scaling AI initiatives across global organizations
The report, "Creating Psychological Safety in the AI Era," highlights how employees often hesitate to experiment, challenge assumptions or lead projects due to fear of backlash, which undermines innovation even when the technology capabilities exist. The report shows that despite major investments in AI, workplace fear – particularly fear of failure – remains one of the biggest barriers to adoption.
Despite rapid advances in AI technology, the report finds that human factors are holding enterprises back. Fear of failure, unclear communication and limited leadership openness often prevent employees from fully engaging with AI initiatives. In fact, organizations may have the tools and strategies in place, but without psychological safety, adoption falters. The findings highlight that scaling AI is as much about building trust and resilience within the workforce as it is about deploying cutting-edge systems.
The report's key findings include:
- A culture of psychological safety has greater success with AI projects. More than four out of five (83 percent) respondents say psychological safety has a measurable impact on the success of AI initiatives, and 84 percent report direct links between psychological safety and tangible business outcomes.
- Fear is holding leaders back. While nearly one-quarter (22 percent) of respondents admit they have hesitated to lead or suggest an AI project because of fear of failure or potential criticism, encouragingly three-quarters (73 percent) indicated they feel safe to provide honest feedback and express opinions freely in the workplace.
- Achieving psychological safety is a moving target. Fewer than half (39 percent) of respondents describe their current level of psychological safety as "high," – yet 48 percent report a "moderate" degree of it. This highlights a gap where some enterprises are pursuing AI adoption on cultural foundations that are not yet fully stable.
- Communication and leadership behaviors are critical levers. 60 percent of respondents say clarity on how AI will – and won't – impact jobs would improve psychological safety the most, while just over half (51 percent) highlight leadership modeling openness to questions, dissent and failure as equally important.
- Creating psychological safety takes more than good intentions or HR policies. It requires explicit messaging about AI's realistic capabilities, limits and approved use cases. Clear communication and ongoing dialogue help companies prioritize transparency, ethics and stakeholder engagement.
Laurel Ruma, Global Editorial Director, MIT Technology Review Insights said, "Our research, in collaboration with Infosys, shows that psychological safety is not a soft metric, it is a measurable driver of AI outcomes. Leaders who communicate clearly about AI's impact and model openness to questions and dissent create the conditions for innovation. Without that foundation of trust, even the most advanced AI strategies will falter."
Rafee Tarafdar, Chief Technology Officer, Infosys said, "We've observed that the most successful enterprise AI transformations happen in organizations that foster psychological safety. When employees feel empowered to experiment without fear of failure, innovation thrives. This culture of trust and openness enables teams to unlock the full potential of AI, driving meaningful business outcomes and sustainable growth."
Sushanth Tharappan, Executive Vice President - HR, Infosys, "At Infosys, we've built a culture of innovation where employees are constantly looking for new opportunities to innovate with AI. We've seen firsthand how psychological safety accelerates adoption and when employees have safe spaces to experiment and reimagine roles, it streamlines the technological aspect. This report confirms that enterprises must pair technical investment with cultural transformation if they want AI to deliver lasting impact."
The report underscores that AI transformation is not only a technological journey, but also a cultural one. By prioritizing psychological safety, enterprises can create trust, resilience and openness which are needed to unlock the full potential of AI.
About MIT Technology Review Insights
MIT Technology Review Insights is the custom publishing division of MIT Technology Review, the world's longest-running technology magazine, backed by the world's foremost technology institution—producing live events and research on the leading technology and business challenges of the day. Insights conducts qualitative and quantitative research and analysis in the
About Infosys
Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 320,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses, and communities. We enable clients in 59 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by cloud and AI. We enable them with an AI-first core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.
Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.
Safe Harbor
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, or our future financial or operating performance, are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding the execution of our business strategy, increased competition for talent, our ability to attract and retain personnel, increase in wages, investments to reskill our employees, our ability to effectively implement a hybrid work model, economic uncertainties and geo-political situations, technological disruptions and innovations such as artificial intelligence ("AI"), generative AI, the complex and evolving regulatory landscape including immigration regulation changes, our ESG vision, our capital allocation policy and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, liquidity, capital resources, our corporate actions including acquisitions, and cybersecurity matters. Important factors that may cause actual results or outcomes to differ from those implied by the forwardlooking statements are discussed in more detail in our US Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forwardlooking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.
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