Why Every Team Needs an AI Teammate

JD Prater

March 21, 2024

Table of Contents

Are your employees drowning in information sprawl and struggling to keep up with the demands of their roles? 

Today’s workplace is constantly bombarded with emails, documents, and data from various sources, leading to decreased productivity and suboptimal decision-making. The accepted status quo of having employees work ‘harder’ and longer hours is no longer sustainable. 

The solution?

An AI teammate – a powerful tool that can revolutionize the way we work by augmenting human capabilities, automating mundane tasks, and freeing up time for strategic, high-value work. 

By harnessing the power of machine learning and natural language processing, AI teammates are transforming the modern workplace. 

They're not here to replace human employees, but rather to enhance their abilities and help them work ‘smarter.’

In this blog post, I'll explore why every team needs an AI teammate and how these intelligent collaborators are driving efficiency, productivity, and job satisfaction across industries.

The Common Workplace Challenges

With today's ever-growing information sprawl, employees are facing a multitude of challenges that hinder their productivity, decision-making, and overall job satisfaction.

Let's take a closer look at some of the most pressing issues:

Challenge #1 - Information Sprawl and the Struggle to Keep Pace 

The sheer volume of data generated in the modern workplace is staggering. From emails and documentation to tickets and customer feedback, employees are bombarded with information from all angles.

Consider this: recent data from Vendr reveals that a typical company uses around 130 apps. That might seem manageable at first glance, but the real complexity lies deeper. Information is scattered across countless apps and platforms. Each one holds a key piece of the puzzle. A puzzle that teams need to solve tasks, make decisions, and innovate.

In fact, according to a study by McKinsey, the average worker spends nearly 20% of their time searching for and gathering information. 

This not only leads to decreased productivity but also makes it difficult for employees to identify the most critical insights needed to make informed decisions.

Challenge #2 - The Burden of Repetitive and Time-Consuming Tasks 

Despite the advancements in technology, many employees still find themselves bogged down by repetitive and time-consuming tasks. 

Whether it's data entry, scheduling meetings, or generating reports, these mundane activities can take up a significant portion of an employee's day.

itsm repetitive tasks
Soure: State of IT Team Resource Drain
Each week, employees waste more than 10% of their time duplicating efforts—four hours 38 minutes on average. Annually, that’s more than 200 hours lost to manual, low-value tasks that they or someone else has already done.
Asana, The Anatomy of Work Index

This not only leads to frustration and burnout but also prevents employees from focusing on higher-level, strategic work that can drive business growth and innovation.

Challenge #3 - The Need for Rapid Decision-Making in a Fast-Paced Business Environment 

In today's hyper-competitive business environment, the ability to make quick, informed decisions is critical. 

However, with the vast amounts of data available spread across multiple sources and the complexity of modern business problems, employees often struggle to keep pace and quickly find information amongst the sprawl.

They may lack the tools, answers, and insights needed to analyze data effectively, leading to delayed or suboptimal decision-making that can have serious consequences for the organization.

These challenges underscore the need for a powerful solution – one that can help employees navigate the complexities of the modern workplace and unlock their full potential. This is where AI teammates come in.

4 Reasons Why Every Team Needs an AI Teammate

Let's dive into how AI teammates can help overcome these obstacles and revolutionize the way we work.

1. Empower workers to spend more time doing what machines can’t do

One of the most significant benefits of AI teammates is their ability to streamline workflows and boost productivity. By automating repetitive tasks and processes, AI teammates free up employees to focus on higher-value, strategic work.

90% of respondents say that manual and repetitive IT tasks contribute to low morale and attrition in their organizations. 
State of IT Team Resource Drain

For example, an AI teammate can quickly sort through large volumes of data, identify relevant insights, and generate reports, saving employees countless hours of manual labor. 

66% improvement in users' performance when using generative AI in business.
Nielsen Norman Group

This not only improves efficiency but also allows employees to allocate their time and energy towards more meaningful and impactful tasks.

2. Improving Decision-Making 

AI teammates can also play a crucial role in enhancing decision-making by providing employees with real-time data analysis and insights. With their advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities, AI teammates can quickly process vast amounts of information, identify patterns and trends, and offer data-driven recommendations. 

Completed tasks 25.1% more quickly, and produced 40% higher quality results than those without the tool.
Boston Consulting Group & Harvard

This empowers employees to make more informed decisions, even in high-pressure situations. Moreover, AI teammates can leverage predictive analytics to anticipate potential challenges and opportunities, enabling employees to take proactive measures and stay ahead of the curve.

3. Facilitating Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing 

Another key benefit of AI teammates is their ability to break down silos and facilitate seamless collaboration across departments. By serving as a centralized hub for information and expertise, AI teammates can help employees quickly find the resources and insights they need, regardless of their location or role within the organization.

Users were also 2x faster at solving simulated decision-making problems when using LLM-based search over traditional search.
Spatharioti et al. 2023

This not only saves time but also promotes a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous learning.

Additionally, AI teammates can facilitate communication by automatically summarizing key points from meetings or documents, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and reducing the risk of misunderstandings.

4. Reducing Costs and Boosting Bottom Line 

In addition to the numerous productivity and performance benefits, adopting AI teammates can lead to significant cost reductions for organizations. By automating repetitive tasks, streamlining processes, and minimizing human errors, AI teammates help companies save time and money.

The financial impact of duplicate tasks alone is staggering. For example, a US employee earning minimum wage in a Californian company ($16.00/hr) with at least 26 workers loses 227.5 hours per year on duplicate tasks. That's a $3,640 loss per year for a single employee. If this company employs 500 people earning minimum wage, the losses quickly build up to nearly $1.82 million annually.

And that's just for the employees working minimum wage.

time wasted on repeat tasks per week

According to a recent study by Accenture, companies that successfully adopt AI can expect to see an average revenue increase of 38% by 2035, primarily driven by cost savings and improved productivity. Moreover, research shows that 41% of time can be reclaimed through generative AI automation (Bain).

41% of time can be reclaimed through generative AI automation.
Source: XXXX

AI teammates not only help organizations avoid costly mistakes and delays by providing real-time data analysis and predictive insights but also enable employees to focus on higher-value activities that drive innovation and growth. This proactive approach helps companies avoid expensive missteps, capitalize on emerging trends before their competitors, and foster a more productive and engaged workforce.

Furthermore, AI teammates can significantly enhance decision-making processes. A study by Spatharioti et al. (2023) found that users were 2x faster at solving simulated decision-making problems when using LLM-based search compared to traditional search methods.

Summary

In summary, AI teammates offer a powerful solution to the challenges employees face in the modern workplace. By enhancing efficiency, improving decision-making, facilitating collaboration, and reducing costs, AI teammates help employees work smarter, not harder.

Now that we've explored the key benefits of AI teammates and the significant financial impact they can have on organizations, let's dive deeper into the specific problems they can solve across various industries and workflows.

Problems an AI Teammate Solves Today

An AI teammate is a versatile solution that can improve the way you work. By combining the power of search, generative, and predictive AI capabilities, it can drive unmatched efficiency and cost reduction.

Let's explore some of the key capabilities and how they can be applied to various workflows.

  1. Find Information Quickly 

In industries like construction, real estate, and manufacturing, employees struggle to find the information they need among vast amounts of data spread across multiple sources and file formats. This can lead to delays, missed opportunities, and poor decision-making.

Find Information Quickly 

An AI teammate can instantly locate relevant information, such as project plans, property details, or parts manuals, saving employees countless hours of searching and enabling them to focus on resolving the issues.

  1. Provide Instant Answers

Employees in manufacturing, construction, and real estate often need quick answers to specific questions to keep projects moving forward. However, finding those answers can be time-consuming and may require consulting multiple sources. 

ai answers with RAG

An AI teammate can provide instant, accurate answers to questions about product specifications, building codes, or property details, based on the information in your documents. This empowers teams to make informed decisions quickly and confidently.

  1. Summarize Docs and Feedback 

In logistics, manufacturing, and construction, employees often have to wade through lengthy documents and feedback to find key insights. This can be a daunting and time-consuming task, leading to information overload and potentially missed opportunities.

ai summaries

An AI teammate can condense shipping manifests, technical specifications, or project progress reports into easily digestible summaries, enabling faster decision-making and better oversight.

  1. Produce First Drafts in Seconds 

Creating technical documentation, project updates, or personalized marketing materials can be a time-consuming process. 

An AI teammate can quickly generate first drafts based on existing data, saving employees significant time and effort. This allows them to focus on refining and customizing the content rather than staring at a blank screen.

  1. Classify Your Data into Themes 

Organizing and categorizing customer tickets, feedback, documents, and data is a major challenge. Without proper classification, important information can easily get lost or overlooked.

customer sentiment with ai

An AI teammate can automatically categorize shipping documents, grant applications, or quality control reports into relevant themes, making it easier to track, prioritize, and process information efficiently.

  1. Extract Important Elements 

Employees in real estate, non-profits, and logistics often need to extract specific data points from large documents for reporting, analysis, or decision-making. Manually sifting through this information can be tedious and error-prone. An AI teammate can quickly pull out key details like property features, grant application data, or shipment quantities, saving time and ensuring accuracy.

It's clear that AI teammates have the potential to dramatically impact the way we work, regardless of the sector or specific challenges faced. 

However, not all AI teammates are created equal. In the next section, we'll explore how Graft's AI teammate stands out as the complete solution for unlocking employee productivity and reducing costs.

Unlocking Employee Productivity and Reducing Costs with Graft’s AI Teammate

The integration of AI teammates into the workforce is no longer a matter of if, but when. They’re a strategic necessity for organizations that want to stay ahead of the curve and thrive in the future of work. 

As I've highlighted throughout this blog post, AI teammates offer a wide range of benefits that can transform the way employees work and drive unprecedented levels of efficiency, productivity, and job satisfaction.

Why You Need Graft’s AI Teammate

What sets Graft apart is its ability to adapt to your unique business needs and seamlessly integrate with your existing workflows. With Graft, you gain a complete AI teammate that tackles all your use cases, from search and prediction to content generation. 

Our intuitive UI empowers every team member with little training, while our advanced learning capabilities ensure continuous improvement based on your team's feedback and expertise.

Moreover, Graft's AI teammate is built on a foundation of trust and security. We understand that your data is your most valuable asset, which is why we've implemented robust security measures and data privacy protocols to ensure your information remains safe and confidential. 

With Graft, you can have peace of mind knowing that your AI teammate is not only powerful but also reliable and secure.

Another key advantage of Graft's AI teammate is its scalability. As your organization grows and data evolves, Graft grows with you. Our flexible architecture and customizable features ensure that your AI teammate can adapt to your changing needs and continue to deliver value, no matter the size or complexity of your operations.

The impact is clear, teams using Graft:

  • Save 2-3 hours per week per employee,
  • make decisions 2X faster,
  • and achieve 40% higher quality results.

These tangible benefits translate into significant cost savings and a stronger bottom line for your organization. By leveraging Graft's AI teammate to automate mundane tasks, streamline workflows, and enhance decision-making, you can unlock the full potential of your workforce and drive sustainable growth.

Ready to experience the power of an AI teammate firsthand?

Schedule a demo with our team today and discover how Graft can help you unlock unprecedented levels of productivity, efficiency, and growth. 

Don't wait – the future of work is here, and it starts with Graft.

The Graft Intelligence Layer integrates your company knowledge and expertise to streamline your enterprise operations.

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Last Updated

March 22, 2024

Further reading

JD Prater

Head of Marketing

JD writes about his experience using and building AI solutions. Outside of work, you'll find him spending time with his family, cycling the backroads of the Santa Cruz mountains, and surfing the local sandbars. Say hi on LinkedIn.

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