Make AI work smarter, not harder for employees

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly boost productivity and streamline operations within organizations. However, its implementation often ends up complicating workflows rather than enhancing them. This issue arises because many companies focus on adding AI tools rather than integrating them seamlessly into existing workflows. As a result, systems become disconnected, creating unnecessary friction and making tasks more challenging instead of simpler. While AI’s promise is well-recognized, with 96% of C-Suite executives acknowledging its productivity-boosting potential, 77% of employees find it complicates their work.

The concept of “productized AI” addresses this challenge by embedding AI directly into existing systems in a way that’s natural and aligns with current workflows, rather than sticking it on as a separate feature. This approach prioritizes interoperability and aims to make AI an active participant in work tasks, rather than just an additional tool. For instance, rather than having separate AI tools for different functions, they can be integrated into project management platforms to automate updates and suggest actions, thus enhancing work processes without adding complexity.

This approach not only reduces the organizational issue of “AI overload,” where too many unconnected AI tools clutter the operational landscape, but it also opts for contextual intelligence, simplicity, and scalability. AI tools should evolve with workflows, ensuring they remain relevant and beneficial over time. The success of AI should not be measured by its technical aspects alone but by its tangible impact on tasks, such as time saved and simplified operation processes. This calls for a structured approach to evaluate AI’s effectiveness, focusing on how well it supports workers and integrates into the company’s ecosystem, enhancing the existing work patterns instead of disrupting them.