How to Improve Workforce Productivity With AI

AI isn't just a tool; it's becoming a teammate. A major field experiment with 776 professionals at Procter & Gamble, led by researchers from Harvard, Wharton, and Warwick, revealed something remarkable: Generative AI can replicate and even outperform human teamwork. Read the recently published paper here: In a real-world new product development challenge, professionals were assigned to one of four conditions: 1. Control Individuals without AI 2. Human Team R&D + Commercial without AI (+0.24 SD) 3. Individual + AI Working alone with GPT-4 (+0.37 SD) 4. AI-Augmented Team Human team + GPT-4 (+0.39 SD) Key findings: ⭐ Individuals with AI matched the output quality of traditional teams, with 16% less time spent. ⭐ AI helped non-experts perform like seasoned product developers. ⭐ It flattened functional silos: R&D and Commercial employees produced more balanced, cross-functional solutions. ⭐ It made work feel better: AI users reported higher excitement and energy and lower anxiety, even more so than many working in human-only teams. What does this mean for organizations? 💡 Rethink team structures. One AI-empowered individual can do the work of two and do it faster. 💡 Democratize expertise. AI is a boundary-spanning engine that reduces reliance on deep specialization. 💡 Invest in AI fluency. Prompting and AI collaboration skills are the new competitive edge. 💡 Double down on innovation. AI + team = highest chance of top-tier breakthrough ideas. This is not just productivity software. This is a redefinition of how work happens. AI is no longer the intern or the assistant. It’s showing up as a cybernetic teammate, enhancing performance, dissolving silos, and lifting morale. The future of work isn’t human vs. AI. The next step is human + AI + new ways of collaborating. Are you ready?

If you’re in leadership, you need to understand *how* genAI will transform your organization, and what that means for restructuring teams. Here's what we're learning: BREAKTHROUGH IN AI IDEATION OpenAI is getting ready to launch new AI models (o3 and o4-mini) that can connect concepts across different disciplines ranging from nuclear fusion to pathogen detection. (Reporting from The Information's Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati). Molecular biologist Sarah Owens used the system to design a study applying ecological techniques to pathogen detection and said doing this without AI "would have taken days." THE NEW TEAMMATE EMERGES Remember the HBS study with 776 Procter & Gamble professionals? It showed that genAI functioned as an actual teammate. Individuals using AI performed at levels comparable to traditional human teams, achieving a 37% performance improvement over solo workers without AI. Teams using AI were three times more likely to produce top-quality solutions while completing tasks 12.7% faster and producing more detailed outputs. BREAKING DOWN SILOS That study showed that AI also dissolves professional boundaries. Without AI, R&D specialists created technical solutions while Commercial specialists developed market-focused ideas. With AI, both types of specialists produced balanced solutions integrating technical and commercial perspectives. A NEW KIND OF TEAM AI users reported higher levels of excitement and enthusiasm while experiencing less anxiety and frustration. Individuals working alone with AI reported emotional experiences comparable to those in human teams. That's wild. RESTRUCTURING FOR ADVANTAGE The HBS study showed that AI reduces dominance effects in team collaboration. When genAI translates between roles, it accelerates iteration at a pace that there’s no way traditional teams could match. ++++++++++++++++++++ THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD BE DOING NOW: 1. Upskill your entire workforce: Develop a fundamental behavioral shift in how teams interact with AI across every task. This only works if everyone is doing it. (We work with enterprise to upskill at scale - more below.) 2. Experiment with new team structures: Test different AI-team combinations. Try individuals with AI for routine tasks and small teams with AI for complex challenges. Find what works best for your specific needs. 3. Redefine success metrics: Set new standards for what good work looks like with AI. Track not just productivity but also idea quality, knowledge sharing across departments, and team satisfaction—all areas where AI shows major benefits. ++++++++++++++++++++ UPSKILL YOUR ORGANIZATION: When your company is ready, we are ready to upskill your workforce at scale. Our Generative AI for Professionals course is tailored to enterprise and highly effective in driving AI adoption through a unique, proven behavioral transformation. It's pretty awesome. Check out our website or shoot me a DM.

"AI is going to do to knowledge work what Lean did to manufacturing." – Satya Nadella This quote has been stuck in my head since I first heard it. The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes: Lean eliminated waste, optimized workflows, and empowered workers to operate at a higher level. AI is doing the same for knowledge work, not by replacing people, but by shifting their focus to higher-impact tasks. Here’s where the parallels stand out to me—and why I think you should pay attention: ✅ Eliminating Waste - Lean cut unnecessary inventory and idle time. AI is removing repetitive knowledge tasks that were once too unstructured to automate. ➡️ Instant meeting summaries ➡️ Automated data entry ➡️ Seamless report generation 🤔 What changes? Roles shift. Companies will need to redefine job responsibilities, redeploy talent, and rethink required skills. ✅ Just-in-Time Insights - Lean production meant the right materials, at the right time. AI can deliver insights exactly when needed. ➡️ No more waiting for monthly reports—benchmarking happens instantly. ➡️ Marketing teams can approve AI-recommended campaign updates in real time. 🤔 What changes? Decision-making accelerates. Companies will need flatter org structures and leaders who are comfortable with continuous iteration instead of rigid planning cycles. ✅ Continuous Improvement - Lean championed small, ongoing improvements. AI now enables continuous, real-time enhancements. ➡️ Writers get instant clarity recommendations. ➡️ Sales teams receive AI-driven coaching on the fly. ➡️ Customer interactions improve through proactive suggestions. 🤔 What changes? A culture of experimentation becomes essential. Companies that reward iteration and learning will move faster than those that don’t. ✅ Empowered Workers- Lean gave factory workers more control over processes. AI is doing the same for knowledge workers by equipping them with expert-level insights and decision-making capability. ➡️ Customer support reps can resolve complex issues without escalation. ➡️ Employees make better, faster decisions without waiting for approvals. 🤔 What changes? Employee expectations shift. More autonomy means leaders must focus on coaching over command-and-control management. We’re at the start of a major transformation. At Dropbox, we’re building Dash to help knowledge workers focus on high-impact work, not busywork. And tomorrow, I'm giving a talk at the Gartner symposium in Dallas to share what we've learned tackling these challenges head on. Which Lean principles feel most relevant to how AI is changing your work? Let me know down below (and if you're in Dallas, come say hi!).