As workers return to the office part-time, many are finding a new co-worker in the mix: generative artificial intelligence. Jessica Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information, explored the symbiotic relationship between generative AI and hybrid work at The Information’s 2023 WTF Summit with three experts:

Rosie Sargeant, project leader, Boston Consulting Group
Lyra Schramm, vice president, people strategy and innovation, Google
Dr. Rebecca Hinds, head of The Work Innovation Lab, Asana

The Intersection of Hybrid Work and Generative AI

Lessin started by asking how forward-looking workplaces are thinking about AI at this moment. Rosie Sargeant answered first: “In considering how generative AI can unlock productivity gains at BCG, we’re also thinking about the kinds of work where it is important to maintain or even augment the human element – and how we can best enable that through our ways of working and collaboration tools and spaces. For instance, rethinking how we spend our days to co-locate as a team for the moments that matter, whilst enabling our people to do certain tasks like focus and admin work remotely if they prefer to do so.”

Without question, AI is top of mind and a high priority for companies today. Lyra Schramm said, “Every single company is trying to reimagine and redefine how they work. With generative AI, you’re going to have this mix of human colleagues and AI colleagues.” She added, “At Google, we're using generative AI in HR around chatbots and more tactical work. We’re beginning to use it for predictive analytics. Next up? Skills gaps analysis.”

Every company represented on the panel is experimenting to see where AI fits within their organization. Dr. Rebecca Hinds asked her team at Asana’s Work Innovation Lab to use AI for every possible task for a week. The goal was to understand where AI can add value—and where it simply can’t. She agrees with Schramm about where the current use cases are across the company: tactical tasks such as administrative work, data analysis and content production

The Fear Is Real

Skepticism about AI is palpable within the panelists’ organizations. “Right now at Asana, there’s a tension between excitement, nervousness and uncertainty,” said Hinds.

Sargeant agreed, but pointed out that feelings about AI vary significantly within corporate ranks. “There is a lot of nervousness—and it centers around the more junior ranks,” she said. “People need to understand how generative AI can really make work better for them.”

This is an area Hinds at Asana has been delving into: “More transparency, more upskilling and reskilling around AI, strongly correlates not only with confidence in employees’ ability to use AI, but also excitement and optimism around the technology.”

It’s not just important to sell AI internally, Sargeant added. Companies need to be very thoughtful about next steps. “We’re going to have to go very specifically into individual teams and functions and understand how generative AI is really going to change the work for them. And we need to bring workers along on the journey.”

Putting AI to Work

Building AI into a company’s workflow is time-consuming, resource intensive and expensive. What does that mean for companies today?

Schramm advised a gradual approach like the one Google is using internally: “Start small and do pilots to determine where AI will have the most impact—because yes, AI is expensive.”

“The biggest problem I see in organizations today is a lack of visibility into how work is happening,” Hinds said. The good news, she pointed out, is that AI is uniquely poised to solve this: “Currently, there isn’t data to concretely say whether a company’s hybrid model is working. With AI, you can start to answer whether your in-office collaboration leads to higher productivity. You can even find out if in-office collaboration on Wednesdays leads to higher productivity than it does on Fridays.”

What to Expect in the Next 24 Months

The panelists agreed that the immediate future for AI is all about productivity.

Sargeant said: “My teams will be able to create content more quickly than ever before—whilst maintaining or perhaps even improving the quality and relevance of our output.”

“Right now, AI is doing a good job of boosting individual productivity. What’s really exciting is the opportunity to boost productivity at the team and organizational levels,” said Hinds.

Schramm shares Hinds’ excitement. She said: “It will be really interesting to measure the increase in productivity. We’re all going to have to figure out how to reinvest capital to most effectively accelerate the business.”

It’s early days, of course, in the partnership between AI and hybrid work, but all of the panelists were optimistic. “AI is at the worst it will ever be right now. The more we can learn with AI, the more we can harness its potential. It’s only going to get better,” said Hinds.