‘Organizations are layering AI on top of existing chaos’: AI is speeding up work for individual employees, but businesses-wide productivity is floundering

Workers across the UK say they’re faced with a “trade-off” between speed and quality of work when it comes to AI.

That’s according to new research from Atlassian, which found nearly half of workers aren’t quite seeing the so-called productivity benefits of the technology.

A survey conducted by the firm showed AI adoption and daily use is growing, with 84% of knowledge workers across the country now using the technology. Among those, nearly three-quarters (71%) said AI is helping them work faster.

Yet this increased output is creating downstream challenges, according to Atlassian.

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Many organizations find they’re creating more work and placing increased pressure on both teams and individual workers. Poor interdepartmental collaboration also means duplication of work is surging.

Individual gains, business-wide pains

Notably, the study found that AI is helping speed up work on an individual level. At a business-wide level, however, these productivity gains aren’t being realized.

A key factor here, according to Atlassian, is that the underlying processes and systems in place weren’t built to compensate for AI workflows and the speed of outputs.

It's an issue that workers are growing increasingly frustrated over, Atlassian noted. Nearly three-quarters (70%) of respondents said they rate their organization’s processes and workflows as ‘okay’ or ‘poor’.

Simply put, businesses are “layering AI onto ways of working that were not designed for it”.

“AI has delivered on its promise of speed, but speed alone doesn’t create business value,” said Molly Sands, head of Atlassian’s Teamwork Lab.

“The real shift happens when organizations move beyond using AI as an individual productivity tool and start integrating it into how teams actually work together,” she added.

“Right now, too many organizations are layering AI on top of existing chaos and mistaking more output for more progress.”

Productivity hurdles continue

Atlassian’s research aligns closely with a previous study by Accenture, which also found that AI-related productivity gains are typically limited to individual workers and teams.

Analysis from the consultancy in April this year pointed to a “widening gap” between the use of the technology and its overall impact on business productivity.

Once again, workers reported marked individual benefits from the technology, such as greater output levels and faster project delivery timelines. Across the board, however, AI hasn’t impacted broader enterprise productivity.

Accenture attributed these “mismatched” findings to the fact that organizational change processes have lagged behind integration of the technology.

AI strategies also fail to acknowledge the importance of overhauling underlying infrastructure, or traditional working practices.

Redesigning workflows

Redesigning workflows and working practices to compensate for AI is critical for businesses seeking a solid return on investment (ROI) from the technology, according to Atlassian.

A basic starting point for many, the study noted, centers around acknowledging that AI shouldn’t be viewed as a simple tool for boosting individual performance.

“Organizations will see real ROI when they stop bolting AI on and instead empower teams to redesign their workflows, processes, and approaches end-to-end together,” Sands commented.

“It’s about creating a culture of experimentation - where teams use AI to align, share context, and rethink how they collaborate. Used well, AI becomes more than a personal efficiency boost; it becomes a coordination layer for the whole team.”

Notably, around 14% of organizations have “fundamentally transformed” their internal collaboration processes with this in mind and to compensate for AI.

Those, the study noted, are the ones that are recording broader gains rather than basic individual improvements.

“This small group has focused on shared context at the team level, clearly defined roles between humans and AI, and establishing a culture that encourages experimentation and continuous learning,” the company said in a statement.

Obsessed with productivity

While both Atlassian and Accenture’s studies highlighted the benefits of workflow alterations to accommodate AI, the latter noted that the long-standing obsession with workforce productivity and cost savings are hampering efforts on this front.

Accenture said a common hurdle lies in “where organizations are looking for value” - and individual productivity is a leading metric when measuring success or ROI.

Executives also view cost reductions as the “greatest future benefit” rather than revenue growth, Accenture noted.

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