AI is boosting personal productivity but slowing down teams – here’s why

AI is helping staff get more work done, but it’s hampering team productivity and hurting broader operational efficiency.

That strange paradox was the main finding in a study from a report by Australian software giant Atlassian, which surveyed 1,000 executives and 12,000 knowledge workers. The firm found 96% of companies are failing to see a return on investment (ROI) with AI – and 37% believe AI has wasted their employees' time.

The report will add to the debate around the utility of AI, and the struggle many companies are facing to gain actual benefits from the technology – not least given the high costs.

"Workers say AI makes them an average of 33% more productive, and executives say improved personal efficiency is AI’s biggest benefit," the report noted, saving an average of 1.3 hours a day.

That time, Atlassian found, is mainly being put into process improvement, strategic thinking, and professional development. For executives, nearly two-thirds say they have improved their efficiency thanks to AI, with a similar figure saying it lets them "see new patterns in the business".

However, 96% of companies haven’t seen “dramatic improvements in organizational efficiency, innovation, or work quality,” Atlassian warned.

The report quoted a global head of digital marketing at a Fortune 500 company as saying: "I'm not seeing any kind of major transformational change in how teams are operating. They're basically operating in the same way just with some extra bells and whistles."

While that's not the result many would have hoped for, it remains early days for this iteration of the AI rollout – and there were positives. Notably, the share of people who said they think AI is useless has dropped by 78%, while the rate of those saying they see AI as a "strategic partner" has increased by 27%.

The ‘AI 4%’

Atlassian said that failure to achieve broader business improvements may be because of an "overemphasis on AI-enabled personal productivity."

Two-thirds of executives see improved productivity as the main indicator of whether or not AI is delivering any ROI, but organizations focused on personal productivity as their main AI outcome are 16% less likely to "drive innovation", the report said.

"When coordination is not a focus, anchoring on personal productivity can worsen existing problems. People may work with AI to complete tasks more quickly, but they don’t stop to consider whether they’re doing the right tasks," the report said.

"People may work with AI to complete tasks more quickly, but they don’t stop to consider whether they’re doing the right tasks."

Indeed, the report noted that 37% of executives believe AI has wasted their teams' time or led them in the wrong direction.

While 96% of companies are failing to see broader transformation, Atlassian's report said that means that 4% of companies are seeing transformational benefits thanks to AI – providing they focus on using the technology to improve coordination between teams.

The company argued that's because they are creating a "connected, company-wide knowledge base", essentially breaking down silos so AI can access data across the company.

Those recording success with the technology have also set up necessary systems to allow "AI-powered coordination" and are making AI part of the team.

How AI is being used in the enterprise

The most common use-cases for AI centered around automating repetitive tasks – which is in keeping with individuals finding efficiencies using the technology.

That was most common for those in engineering (41%), but also a popular use case for HR (36%) and marketing (34%).

However, marketing departments were most likely to use AI to "support human decision making", which could include analyzing campaign performance and audience targeting. Meanwhile, HR teams led with the use of AI for strategic insights, including skills analysis and workforce planning.

Notably, Atlassian found there was a disconnect between how useful AI was seen by colleagues across a business. The report found that 82% of marketing executives saw a benefit to their department, but a quarter or less of HR or technology leaders agreed.

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