Experienced Gen AI Users Build Multi-Tool Workflows, New Data Shows

Tenure reshapes how consumers use generative AI

The gap between a new generative AI user and a veteran is no longer just about frequency. It's about workflow depth, tool selection, and the complexity of decisions users trust to AI systems.

According to the ninth Consumer AI Benchmark Report from PYMNTS Intelligence, 61% of workplace gen AI users have at least one year of experience with the technology, while only 12% started within the past six months. Personal use skews slightly younger, but 51% of those users also have a year or more under their belts.

The research, based on a May 2026 survey of 2,226 U.S. adults, found that time fundamentally changes both what people do with AI and which tools they choose to do it.

From single prompts to platform stacks

Experienced personal users complete an average of 11 tasks with gen AI — 68% more than the 6.6 tasks completed by newcomers. Among users with at least a year of experience, 35% identify a dedicated AI platform as their most helpful tool, compared to 22% of those with less than six months of use. Reliance on mobile phone assistants drops from 20% among newcomers to 11% among longer-tenured users.

The platform mix widens as users mature. Among experienced personal users, 74% use ChatGPT, 52% use Gemini, 28% use Microsoft Copilot, and 16% use Claude. Newcomers show comparable ChatGPT adoption at similar levels, but Claude usage sits at just 6% and Copilot at 18%. Power users — those who complete the most demanding tasks most frequently — average 2.9 platforms, more than double the 1.4 used by light users.

Why it matters

This data signals a shift from experimentation to integration. As users gain experience, they don't just use AI more often — they use it for harder problems. The share who consider gen AI essential for managing finances and banking is 129% higher among those with a year or more of experience than among newcomers. For learning tasks, the gap is 35% versus 26%. For health and wellness, it's 32% versus 23%.

The pattern suggests that growth in the AI market will increasingly come from deepening engagement with existing users rather than simply adding new ones. Workplace use is already mature, with most users experienced. Personal use remains the larger opportunity for onboarding, but even there, the data shows that retention and skill-building drive long-term value.

Commerce and finance show divergent patterns

Product discovery reveals a notable gap. Experienced users are more likely to use gen AI to find what to buy, but only 20% say it's essential, compared with 28% of newcomers. PYMNTS Intelligence interprets this as a performance issue: seasoned users keep trying AI for shopping, but many don't find the experience reliable enough to depend on. The implication for merchants and commerce platforms is clear — better product data, transparent ranking, and smoother handoffs from recommendation to purchase are needed.

Financial services, by contrast, show rising reliance with tenure. The share of users who say gen AI is essential for managing finances climbs sharply after a year of use, pointing to an opportunity for banks and FinTechs that can deliver trustworthy data, clear explanations, and secure permission controls.

Substitution effects grow with experience

Search engines feel the largest impact. Among personal newcomers, 26% say they use search engines less because of gen AI. That figure rises to 38% for users with at least a year of experience — a 47% relative increase. Substitution of specialized sites and shopping platforms grows more slowly, while social media use remains nearly flat across tenure groups.

The details were first reported by PYMNTS Intelligence in its Consumer AI Benchmark series.