Dive Brief:
- Knowledge workers are grappling with expanding workloads, and they are leaning on AI to address the challenge, according to a Sapio Research survey commissioned by Wrike.
- Just over half of knowledge workers say AI has somewhat or greatly improved their ability to do their jobs, the survey of 1,000 business leaders and 2,500 knowledge workers found. Business leaders estimate around 32% of their team’s workload is supported by AI, while knowledge workers put the proportion around 14%.
- Despite the support of AI, employees are grappling with an excess of drudge work, according to the survey. Nearly half of a worker’s week is spent on low-impact work. Wrike estimates unnecessary work costs the average organization more than $15,000 a year per employee.
Dive Insight:
Technology leaders have big plans for employees’ AI use. By enhancing information gathering, workflows and user experiences, CIOs aim to improve employee’s ability to focus on higher-impact tasks.
But for most organizations, the transformative change of AI has yet to be seen.
Knowledge workers say their workload has increased by 31% in the last year, according to the Wrike report. Just one-third of knowledge workers say their employer is taking steps to decrease the burden.
CIOs can amplify busy work challenges if there’s a lack of clarity and guidance on AI use. Employees don’t often use AI in the way business leaders want. Nearly two-thirds of employees primarily turn to the tech to double-check their work, according to a Slingshot report. By contrast, most enterprises deploy AI to help employees with initial research, workflow management and data analysis.
“To achieve optimal results, strategic AI usage and clear companywide prioritization need to be focused on in equal measure because the former supports the latter,” Wrike said in the report.
Experts also advise business leaders to focus on training and employee experiences rather than general productivity or the volume of work completed. Employees prioritize work that is valued by their boss and organization, emphasizing the importance of communicating clear goals during AI implementation to avoid a proliferation of unnecessary work.
Upskilling also ensures employees know how to use tools responsibly and effectively. Just 23% of employees feel they have all the skills needed to incorporate AI into workflows, according to the Slingshot report.