A Chat With Frank Wolf, Co-founder And Chief Strategy Officer At Staffbase On How The Frontline Is The True AI Efficiency Success

Around 80% of the global workforce is deskless, yet the current corporate buzz is entirely focused on desk-based AI tools. Why are frontline workers being left behind in the AI revolution, and what are the hidden risks of this oversight?

Tech companies build AI for the environments they know: laptops, desktops, corporate desks. Frontline workers don’t sit at any of those. As a result, most organisations are treating 80% of their workforce as an afterthought in their AI strategy.

The cost of that is a two-tier workforce. Frontline workers feel disconnected from headquarters, which hits morale and internal sentiment. In industries like logistics, retail, and manufacturing, this shows up as high talent turnover, and longer onboarding times. 

There’s also a security problem. When frontline staff don’t have secure, company-provided AI and digital tools, they turn to consumer apps to solve day-to-day problems. That’s shadow IT at scale, with all the data and compliance risk that comes with it.

For a leader trying to picture this, what does AI-enablement actually look like for someone who doesn’t use a laptop? How do you make it work on their personal devices?

It has to be mobile-first and friction-free. A courier or supermarket assistant can’t type long, complex prompts into a desktop dashboard in the middle of a busy shift. For them, AI has to be a secure, intelligent assistant in their pocket.

In practice, that means meeting them on the device they already use. Imagine a frontline worker who needs to check an updated safety policy or compliance regulation mid-shift. Instead of digging through a binder or hunting for a password for an old corporate intranet, they ask a question in plain language: “What’s the protocol for handling this specific return?” The AI on their employee engagement app answers in seconds, drawing on the company’s own approved and governed documentation. That’s the difference between information existing and information being usable. And it completely democratizes access to that information, regardless of shifts or location.
 

It’s one thing to launch an app, but getting people to actually use it is the real test. What kind of growth and efficiency are your clients seeing when they get this right?

Frontline workers want to be connected to the wider company, and they want answers faster. The Staffbase 2025 International Employee Communication Impact Study

found that poor internal communication was cited by 60% of employees who had considered  leaving, across both desk and deskless roles. When employees have an employee engagement platform they actually trust, one that delivers clear, relevant information in the flow of their work, the operational gains are immediate. Managers spend less time relaying information. Workers have the autonomy to solve problems instantly. And critical updates actually reach the people they’re meant for. AI also allows employees across countries to access the same information in their own languages, solving the problem of scaling communication globally without losing the message in translation.

Looking ahead, what do you think the next phase of this AI revolution looks like? How do you see the relationship between business leaders and their frontline teams evolving over the next year or two?

The conversation is shifting from technology to people. The question is no longer what AI can do, but whether employees trust the answers it gives them, and whether those answers actually reach the frontline.The companies that get this right over the next two years will be the ones that treat the frontline not as a recipient of communication, but as part of it.

The takeaway for leaders should be that your AI strategy is only as strong as your most disconnected worker. If the information your AI draws on isn’t trustworthy, and if it doesn’t reach everyone, it won’t make your business smarter. It will just make the gaps more visible, faster.