Join our Waitlist for Expert Advice!

4 Ways Artificial Intelligence Boosts Workforce Productivity AI is becoming an accessible and cost-feasible tool for all market segments -- including entrepreneurs and the businesses they run.

By Taher Behbehani Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Shutterstock

Eighty-four percent of businesses see the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as "essential" to competitiveness, while half view the technology as "transformative," according to Tata Consultancy Services' Global Trend Study released in March 2017. AI, once limited to experimentation within large enterprises and R&D labs, is becoming an accessible and cost-feasible tool for all market segments -- including entrepreneurs and the businesses they run.

But, as was the case with cloud computing and big data, broader availability of AI does not by default translate into productivity gains, better customer service or operational efficiency. As vendors bake AI into existing workforce communications and collaboration solutions, they must keep an eye firmly fixed on areas where AI can improve productivity. Here are five ways AI can do just that.

AI ends the "paper chase."

OK, so it's not physical paper anymore, but employees are struggling to manage an avalanche of emails, messages, tasks, files and meetings. It's little wonder the typical worker spends nearly 20 percent of their week just searching for and gathering information. The good news: Artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities through bots are helping to shift the burden away from workers struggling to manually filter the influx of content, communications and notifications.

Related: The Best Productivity Tools for Small Businesses

AI helps reduce the amount of time workers must dedicate each day to the "orchestration" of work, and more time on the work itself. For example, the ability to search through all a user's cloud applications to find the documents, messages, social profiles and any content relevant to the conversation or meeting they're having enables workers to collaborate effectively and leads to a more efficient workforce.

AI cuts into wasted meeting time.

300,000 hours a year: That's how much manpower consultants from Bain & Company estimated one large firm was losing as a result of just one weekly executive meeting. Drilling down further, professionals attend more than 60 meetings per month, and consider more than half of these meetings a waste of time.

A key reason meetings are so unproductive is that employees spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for them. Trying to find the right files, notes and tasks associated with each meeting eats several additional hours every week, and if an employee misses a meeting the problem becomes even worse. AI doesn't have the power to get rid of meetings altogether, but it can make meetings more productive by identifying additional information, triggered by workflow demands, that is derived from a deeper understanding of relationships -- with people, entities and information. This includes past collaboration with meeting participants, additional potential stakeholders that should be included, and relevant information from cloud applications.

Related: Create Your Own Chatbot Online and Increase Productivity

AI eases mobile chaos.

Consider this common scenario: An employee in your increasingly mobile workforce is asked at the last minute to hop on a conference call with an important client. She's at the airport, dialing in from an iPhone. Typically, in this scenario, it would be next to impossible to quickly locate past emails, messages and files pertinent to the client and the topic of the call. But, AI flips that script, searching in real-time to present the employee only with contextually relevant information for that particular call.

Most businesses provide workers with tools to communicate while working remotely, but that is not the same as tools that keep them engaged and fully productive. Entrepreneurs must extend beyond just hooking employees up with email, internet and network access to technologies specifically designed to foster collaboration and recognize today's work teams are often virtual ones that want to engage and interact from any location, at any time, and using any device.

Related: 10 Productivity Tools for the Sole Proprietor

AI reduces distractions.

Knowledge workers are interrupted every 3 minutes on average, and it takes up to 8 uninterrupted minutes to re-establish focus. With the average employee suffering through 56 interruptions per day, it is easy to see why these distractions are adding up big time for businesses in the form of lost productivity and efficiency.

Distractions come in many forms, and a major culprit is that employees are getting hit by communications coming from all sides, be it through apps, emails, chat, video, tasks and yes, in-person. From 2014-2016 the number of applications that employees use grew 25 percent. Equally problematic is the time spent toggling back and forth between each app and work task.

By reducing the time employees spend moving between apps to communicate, collaborate and retrieve information, AI can reduce these types of distractions and in turn, boost productivity.

Taher Behbehani

Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, BroadSoft

Taher Behbehani’ is the SVP of Samsung Enterprise Mobile; he was formerly at Broadsoft, where he was the CMO. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Apple Intelligence Is Finally Dropping This Week. Here's a Peek at What's Changing on Your iPhone.

Apple's iOS update will introduce features like AI summaries of text messages and an AI-powered Siri that can handle tech support questions.

Business News

A Wells Fargo Worker Was Discovered 4 Days After Dying at Her Desk. Her Cause of Death Was Just Revealed.

Medical examiners have released the cause of death of Denise Prudhomme, who was found dead at her desk in Wells Fargo's Tempe, Ariz. office.

Business News

You Have One Month Left to Buy a House, According to Barbara Corcoran. Here's Why.

"If you are planning on waiting a year and seeing where interest rates go, you are out of your mind," Corcoran said.

Leadership

How to Create a Workplace Culture That Supports Digital Transformation (and Why It's Important)

Technology and culture change go hand in hand — pay attention to both!

Business News

Meta Fires Employee Making $400,000 Per Year Over a $25 Meal Voucher Issue

Other staff members were fired for the same reason, per a new report.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.