Using AI to Boost Work Efficiency

I've received a few questions on this, so thought I'd share 5 ways I'm using AI in my day-to-day at work to boost productivity, insight, and strategic clarity: Benchmarking: I use AI daily to quickly validate metrics and performance benchmarks. For instance, when reviewing email open rates, I ask ChatGPT (and other LLMs) for industry benchmarks segmented by email types, industries and content. This provides immediate clarity on performance against the rest, and I can see if we're good, great, or have work to do. This information was hard to find or non-existent before and instantly helps builld context. Thought Partner: LLMs elevate my strategic thinking. Whether analyzing competitors or drafting new strategies, I leverage AI to rapidly identify gaps, assess my thoughts against frameworks like "Seven Powers," and run game theory on them with competitive response and market players. It uplevels my thinking and leads to more comprhensive considerations. Deepening Customer Insights: By processing sales call transcripts and meeting notes through AI, I can surface customer pain points and uncover new insights, which improves my understanding of customer needs, sales blockers and messaging that otherwise would be hard to come by. Writing Partner: I use AI to power my writing process—from refining documents to constructing logical, concise, and compelling arguments. It helps draft outlines, provides examples and proof-points to reinforce my assertions, and streamlines my writing. All-in it makes my writing better and faster. Automating Daily Tasks: I use AI-powered tools daily to track competitors, monitor market trends, and check-in on things I care about. It never stops working and so I always have this information available as needed. Today, AI is integral to about half of my workday. And this is just the beginning—there's even more potential to unlock with automations such as reviewing and drafting replies for my emails, prioritizing which documents to review next, and automated meeting prep. How are you integrating AI into your workflow? I'd love to hear what's worked for you.

The UK's Department for Business and Trade just released a 48-page evaluation of MS Copilot. Their conclusion? A generic, off-the-shelf AI chatbot isn't producing significant efficiency gains. Shocker… Here's what they found; 🔹 72% user satisfaction with basic writing and summarizing tasks 🔹 Modest time savings: ~1 hour saved on document drafting, negative time impact on scheduling and presentations 🔹 22% of users encountered hallucinations requiring fact-checking 🔹 Biggest benefits for neurodiverse users and non-native English speakers 🔹 No evidence of broader organizational productivity improvements Basically, it's a decent writing assistant. If we're expecting off-the-shelf LLMs to transform work, we're missing the point. LLMs aren't about optimizing existing workflows - they're about making work conversational. Imagine telling your procurement system: "Flag vendors with unusual pricing patterns from last 18 months" or "Generate an audit response comparing our data practices against our policy frameworks." That requires domain-specific training, system integration, and task-specific capabilities, none of which exist in off-the-shelf LLM driven copilot. Most companies are making the same mistake as the UK government. They're licensing generic AI tools and expecting productivity gains on individual tasks, when the real opportunity is building conversational interfaces to their actual business logic. To hit the nail on productivity gains with AI? 1️⃣ Start with the problem → Look for workflows where people navigate multiple systems, coordinate across functional areas, pass data back and forth, analyze it, and perform well-defined repetitive tasks. 2️⃣ Identify 1-2 specific processes and break them into testable components → Pick process you can decompose into individual tasks. Don't attempt to automate entire workflows until you've proven AI can reliably handle each component. 3️⃣ Invest in clean data, metadata, and integrations → Ensure you have the data infrastructure and system connections needed for AI to execute tasks rather than just generate text. 4️⃣ Measure each task against your hypothesis → Does it help? If all individual tasks were combined, would it provide enough gains to be worth the investment? 4️⃣ Be smart about expectations → This is emerging technology that will improve. Don't expect 100% accuracy out of the gate. The hard truth? Transforming your organization with AI requires an innovation mindset, not digital transformation. It's not about buying a tool, implementing it and seeing immediate ROI. Real transformation requires engineering investment and domain expertise. And that won't come from MS Copilot alone. The organizations that figure this out first won't be asking "Does AI save time on emails?" They'll be asking "What can we make possible when our systems can take orders in plain English?"

This year I'm committed to working with technology to make my life easier. For me, it starts with leaning into AI. As leaders and professionals, we have countless opportunities to use AI to streamline tasks, free up time, and focus on what truly matters. Here are four simple ways you can start using AI as soon as tomorrow to do more of the work that energizes you and be fully present where it counts. 1. Summarize Reports: We're constantly are inundated with data including market trends, financial reports, and internal analytics. AI can help analyze lengthy reports and extract key insights, saving hours of manual review. Instead of sifting through pages of information, try AI-generated summaries to quickly grab concise takeaways. 2. Refine Emails: The right message can inspire action, move the needle, or strengthen relationships. AI-powered writing assistants can help craft clear, persuasive, and professional emails that resonate with your reader while maintaining your unique voice. 3. Proofread Your Writing: The details matter when crafting reports, proposals, or public statements. AI-powered proofreading goes beyond spell-checking—it analyzes grammar, sentence structure, and tone to ensure flawless, compelling writing to maintain your professionalism. 4. Create Meeting Agendas: Meetings should be strategic and results-driven, not a drain on productivity. AI can generate structured and goal-oriented agendas that keep discussions focused and actionable. If you have goals for your meeting but aren’t sure how to structure the discussion or prioritize key points, AI can help. The Bottom Line: AI isn’t replacing professionals—it’s empowering them. By integrating AI into daily workflows, leaders and business professionals can enhance productivity, sharpen decision-making, and communicate with greater clarity and confidence. What's one task AI has simplified in your life? ⬇️ #UsingAI #AITips #AIforProfessionals #ProductivityHacks #AIProductivity