5 ways to use AI to improve the workplace experience

84% of employees say there are opportunities to leverage AI in their organization, according to our latest research on the workplace experience (WX). The report surveyed 900 people working full-time at companies with over 1,000 employees and found that employees think AI would be most useful in the following situations:

• Summarize meetings (54%)
• Gather information related to space and facility usage (35%)
• Generate content (30%)
• Book rooms (29%)

“Emerging AI tools can support the discovery, creation, and timely distribution of content that’s not only relevant to employees’ work, but also helps them form connections with others around shared interests,” says Thomas Philippart de Foy, Chief Innovation Officer at Appspace.

How exactly are modern organizations leveraging AI to their advantage? It can be tough to wade through the hype and fully envision how AI enhances workplace operations, dynamics, production, and more. In this blog, we dive into AI in the workplace and the benefits it offers organizations willing to embrace this technology.

5 benefits of AI in the workplace

1. Enhancing efficiency and productivity

AI tools introduce automation that takes on repetitive tasks and reduces the risk of human error. Operations like data entry that require high levels of accuracy and tedious work are ripe for human-based mistakes. AI is right for such a job. As Forbes puts it, AI-enabled computers make zero errors if programmed correctly. With AI doing these tasks, human workers can take on more strategic work—improving the efficiency of whole departments.

AI can also schedule meetings, support task management, and conduct other work that bolsters high-level productivity. For instance, AI tools can offer summaries of meetings and schedule follow-up ones based on meeting transcripts. Using AI-based task management tools, teams might receive prompts to complete high-priority items first or even get support for brainstorming ideas for urgent matters. Forrester researchers predict that enterprise AI initiatives will boost creative problem-solving and productivity by 50%.

2. Improving decision-making with data analytics

Modern businesses struggle to manage the influx of data they take in daily. As organizations pile on software and devices to their technology stacks, data about customers and employees floods in. To wrangle and truly leverage this data, you need analytics—and that’s where AI enters.

AI-based analytics tools take huge datasets and parse them to deliver actionable insights. Organizations use these tools to look at customer behavior over a period of time, for instance, to make choices about products, sales, marketing, and more. By taking in data about your customers and running it through an AI analytics tool, you can gain insight into buying trends and other behavior that influences broader strategy.

Some of the biggest global companies use AI-powered analytics to make data-driven decisions. For example, Netflix uses AI analytics to make decisions about how to improve its recommendation engine—and thus its user experience—making it one of the world’s most successful streaming media platforms.

3. Customizing the employee experience

AI offers ways to improve the employee experience, starting with new-hire training. Integrating AI into training tools enables a more personalized experience as AI can adapt testing and question sequences based on how an employee performs during the test. In real time, the system can garner information about an employee’s skill level so an organization can be sure to apply the necessary amount of training to get that employee off on the right foot.

AI solutions are also popular with HR for gathering employee satisfaction and feedback. Through surveys and chatbot-based interactions, HR collects data about employee happiness, and AI analyzes these large data sets to deliver insights.

Gartner reports that 38% of HR leaders have explored or implemented AI solutions to improve process efficiency within their organization.

Business leaders can then make data-driven decisions about how to improve aspects of operations to level up employee engagement. AI-driven HR tools include Culture Amp, and Lattice.

4. Enhancing communication and collaboration

Chatbots and virtual assistants are some of the most well-known examples of everyday solutions that employ AI. They’ve been around for a while in the customer service realm, but they’re making their way into HR and the employee experience too. AI-driven communication tools like these can answer questions and perform tasks such as taking notes so humans in a collaborative setting can focus more on the purpose of the gathering.

With AI taking care of scheduling meetings, gathering feedback, and more, employees can maximize their collaborative moments. A team using Microsoft Copilot, for example, can request that the tool take notes and deliver a summary of all action items to the team members at the end of a meeting. This assistance allows participants to devote their full attention to the communication at hand and make the most of a brainstorming session.

5. Ensuring workplace safety and compliance

AI has the potential to transform workplace safety. It’s increasingly incorporated into Internet of Things (IoT) devices that monitor workplace conditions such as temperature, humidity, or air quality. These devices then report the conditions, and AI analyzes workplace data to help decision-makers ensure safety and stay compliant.

AI-powered systems can also help workers stay safe in their own environments. Commercial driving presents a good example: AI-based fleet management solutions can prompt truck drivers in real-time to curb dangerous habits and correct unsafe driving behavior. By gathering data on driver behavior, AI-based dash cameras can show fleet managers where drivers need to improve—enabling those managers to enact training initiatives if necessary.

For more on AI in the workplace and other trends and insights, check out the full report.