Determining the Value of AI Co-Workers: Naïve and Long-Term Views

In our journey exploring the role of AI co-workers in organisations, it becomes worthwhile exploring the value that these seamlessly integrated virtual team members offer far beyond mere cost savings. While reducing human headcount may appear as an obvious benefit, the real impact of AI co-workers is in boosting productivity, creating “unfair” competitive advantages, and improving employee satisfaction & growth. Below is an attempt to break down on how to evaluate the comprehensive value AI co-workers bring to the table.

The Naïve View: Cost Savings

The most straightforward metric for assessing the value of AI co-workers is cost savings. By having an AI co-worker take on tasks previously handled by humans, companies can reduce or repurpose roles without sacrificing productivity. For many businesses, this translates to a reduction in payroll costs, often measured by the number of full-time employees no longer required (i.e. leaver’s positions not being refilled) or by the slowed rate of hiring new staff. We call this approach “naive,” as it only scratches the surface of what AI co-workers can achieve.

The Productivity View: Exponential Efficiency Gains

AI co-workers don’t just replace human employees; they amplify productivity in ways that are difficult for human teams to match. Below are a few ways AI co-workers drive productivity (examples):

• Asynchronous Work: As explored in our previous blog post, unlike humans, AI co-workers work around the clock, handling tasks during off-hours and ensuring processes continue seamlessly. This availability speeds up workflows without interrupting human team members, resulting in human productivity increasing substantially as well.
• Rapid Skill Mastery: AI co-workers have immediate access to data and can operate any tool or software in seconds. They don’t need repetitive training, don’t get fatigued, and can perform tasks repetitively without interruption.
• Multilingual Capabilities: An AI co-worker can communicate in multiple languages simultaneously, breaking down language barriers and opening up new markets (or time zones) for businesses.

The productivity gains from these capabilities are exponential. An AI co-worker can handle large volumes of repetitive tasks with consistency, significantly freeing up human employees to focus on more strategic work. This results in improved efficiency, faster project completion, and less operational downtime. Measurements include the number of tasks (internal) and interactions (external) completed, the number of “non-productive” human work hours saved, task completion times, etc.

The Strategic and Commercial View: Competitive Advantage

Beyond productivity, AI co-workers contribute strategically to an organization, creating a competitive edge that can drive growth and profitability. We use business development as an illustrative example below:

• Shortened Sales Cycles: AI co-workers streamline administrative tasks in the sales process, such as follow-ups, data entry, and lead tracking, reducing the time needed to close deals and improving sales efficiency.
• Increased Customer Retention: By maintaining regular, high-quality interactions with clients and handling support inquiries promptly, AI co-workers enhance the customer experience, which can increase retention and customer satisfaction.
• Higher Average Contract Values (ACVs): With an AI co-worker managing customer insights, upsell opportunities, and proactive outreach, organizations can increase ACVs by delivering more tailored, consistent, and timely engagement. Furthermore, an interesting thought experiment is to imagine the value increase by ensuring that ALL customers can be actively managed independently from their commercial segmentation and value.

These strategic gains go beyond traditional productivity and directly impact an organisation’s top (and bottom) line, helping create sustainable growth by enhancing core business functions and relationships.

Enhanced Employee Satisfaction: Focusing on What Matters

Given the above one may be tempted to overlook a significant organisational benefit of AI co-workers: their positive impact on human employee satisfaction. By taking over mundane, repetitive tasks (studies assume an average of ~2/3 of tasks), AI co-workers allow human team members to engage in more meaningful work, like business and product development, R&D and their individual personal growth.

Studies show that employees who spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on creative and impactful work report higher job satisfaction. This shift not only improves retention rates but also attracts talent eager to work in innovative, AI-integrated environments. When employees are freed from repetitive work, they can focus on strategic thinking and foster their skills and decision-making capabilities, leading to a more motivated and engaged workforce.

Conclusion

While cost savings are an easy metric to point to, they represent a limited perspective on the value of AI co-workers. The real benefit lies in their ability to amplify productivity, provide competitive advantages, and enhance employee satisfaction and development. Companies focusing solely on cost reduction miss the more significant impact and value creation these AI employees will produce. Furthermore, it may lead to increased organisational inertia and adoption resistance.

The businesses that thrive will be those that recognize AI co-workers as an investment in efficiency, strategy, and employee well-being, rather than just a way to reduce payroll.

• Dr. Andreas Koeberl