Disney Integrated AI into Employee Review Process

The company issued guidance authorizing Microsoft Copilot for drafting performance goals and development plans.

Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

Isometric editorial illustration featuring clean, matte-finished architectural volumes in a modular office-like arrangement, representing the structure of corporate performance evaluation processes. — Disney has officially authorized employees to use Microsoft Copilot for drafting performance reviews, shifting administrative tasks to AI while maintaining human oversight. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Would you trust an AI-generated self-assessment to accurately represent your professional performance and goals?

Disney has officially authorized employees to use AI tools, including Microsoft Copilot, to assist in drafting performance reviews and setting professional goals. The company requires staff members to remain responsible for the accuracy of any content generated by these automated systems.

Why it matters

The initiative reflects an industry-wide effort to capture tangible value from significant corporate investments in AI infrastructure. By applying large language models to administrative tasks, Disney aims to streamline the time-consuming process of annual performance evaluations.

Disney is encouraging staff to generate three measurable performance goals using AI chatbots. This workflow relies on Microsoft Copilot, a tool that integrates large language models to assist in synthesizing data like team objectives and individual achievements.

The players

Disney

A multinational media and entertainment conglomerate that has developed an internal AI adoption dashboard to manage technology deployment across its business units.

Microsoft Copilot

An artificial intelligence assistant developed by Microsoft that leverages large language models to automate text generation and summarization within professional software environments.

The details

Employees are instructed to input their specific role titles and relevant team objectives into authorized chatbots to produce professional development plans. The AI tools act as a drafting layer, summarizing annual achievements into structured formats for review. Staff must ultimately verify all generated output, as Disney maintains individual accountability for the accuracy of these self-assessments.

Mid-September 2026: Disney appointed a new chief technology officer.
September 28, 2026: The shift toward AI-assisted performance management was disclosed.

The Tech Race

This policy aligns with a documented corporate trend of deploying generative AI tools to capture ROI from internal technology investments. It builds upon Disney's prior efforts, such as its AI adoption dashboard and the use of machine learning to generate advertisements for Disney+.

Employees at Disney can now utilize Microsoft Copilot to draft their self-assessments and set objectives, replacing more time-intensive manual writing tasks. This change primarily affects corporate workflows, requiring users to carefully audit AI-generated content to ensure factual accuracy.

The takeaway

Disney is betting that shifting the heavy lifting of documentation to AI will increase HR efficiency during the annual review cycle. Observers should track whether other large-scale employers follow suit or if internal concerns regarding the accuracy of AI-generated assessments lead to future policy limits.