Home topics news Credit: Mark Nolan photography News News LinkedIn’s new research on AI at work has good news and a warning for small businesses Yajush Gupta April 3, 2026 LinkedIn’s new research and book on AI reveal the practical gap small business owners need to close right now. The conversation around AI at work has often been framed as a binary: either you are threatened by it or you are embracing it. New research from LinkedIn suggests the reality is more complicated, and more useful, than that. A LinkedIn poll conducted alongside the Australian launch of Open to Work: How to Get Ahead in the Age of AI found that when asked how they feel when AI takes over tasks they used to do at work, 42% of Australian professionals say they feel relieved because it frees them up, and 36% say they are curious about what comes next. Only 17% say they feel threatened. That is a striking result. The dominant emotional response to AI taking work off people’s plates is not anxiety. It is relief. Matt Tindale, Managing Director of LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand, said the data reflects a readiness that many Australians may not recognise in themselves. “The data tells us that Australians are more ready to adapt than they might think. A new LinkedIn poll found that 78% of Australians feel either relieved or curious when AI takes on tasks they used to do at work, and that openness is exactly the mindset that