In the news. Just because employees are freeing up time by using AI doesn’t necessarily mean their companies are functioning any better. The Financial Times reports that a survey of 6,000 digital workers reveals a productivity paradox: AI is saving workers 11 hours per week, but only 13% of respondents are seeing any improvement in organizational performance. Some of that discrepancy may be due to employees spending more time “botsitting” AI tools to make them work better or prioritizing “performative” work to impress bosses and colleagues instead of genuinely getting things done. [FT]

High performers pursue growth and innovation alongside efficiency; they fundamentally redesign workflows that are enabled by AI rather than insert AI into existing ones.

On McKinsey.com. McKinsey’s latest global survey on the state of AI finds a similar gap between individual and company-wide gains: 80% of respondents say AI improves their productivity, but just 37% report a positive contribution to enterprise earnings. A small group of high performers points to a path forward, say McKinsey’s Dan Tinkoff, Lieven Van der Veken, Michael Chui, and Tara Balakrishnan. Of these organizations, nearly 75% report redesigning workflows through AI use, compared with 25% of others. Leaders looking to convert employee-level gains into financial returns can reimagine end-to-end workflows, measure impact, and build the operating capabilities to scale what works.

Survey the state of AI