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As a CEO operating within the global supply chain\u2014where every purchase is tied to efforts to end forced and child labor\u2014I think often about what work is for: not just making it faster, but making it matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That\u2019s what makes the latest Gallup findings on AI so striking. The headline insight isn\u2019t productivity. It\u2019s something more revealing: We\u2019re becoming more efficient, but not more engaged.<\/p>\n
Employees say AI is making them more productive, yet global employee engagement has declined for two consecutive years, now sitting at just 20%<\/a>. We\u2019re optimizing how work gets done, but for many people, we\u2019re eroding the experience of doing it. That gap is a failure of intention, while many mistakenly think it\u2019s related to technology.<\/p>\n AI is reshaping how work happens, reducing friction across writing, analysis, operations, and decision-making. In our own business, we look for people who lean into AI. It signals curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to evolve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We\u2019re equally deliberate about how we use it. AI helps automate repetitive tasks, streamline workflows, and surface better information. It saves time, reduces cost, and creates capacity that didn\u2019t exist before.<\/p>\n AI unlocks speed as well as a choice. And that choice is where strategy lives.<\/p>\n Leaders often treat productivity as the goal, though actually it\u2019s a byproduct. The real question is what productivity enables. Without a clear answer, efficiency gains get absorbed into more output, tasks, and noise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When those gains are intentionally redirected, something different happens. Teams have more space to think, connect, and focus on the work that differentiates a business. Over time, that shift compounds in performance, as well as in how people experience their work.<\/p>\n I saw this firsthand while visiting one of our women-led coffee partners in Ethiopia. Coffee is one of the most widely traded commodities in the world, yet the people behind it are often the least visible.<\/p>\n Women worked side by side, singing as they carefully sorted and dried coffee by hand. It\u2019s slow, skilled work, and there are ways that process could improve over time. But what stood out was the pride.<\/p>\n They were producing coffee while supporting their families, strengthening their community, and connecting to something far beyond their region. That sense of meaning is difficult to describe but easy to recognize. Some things need to be protected instead of automated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As Robin Wall Kimmerer<\/a> writes, \u201cAll flourishing is mutual.\u201d Work is no different. When people feel connected to the impact of their work and to each other, performance follows.<\/p>\n The same applies inside any organization. When people understand why their work matters, they show up differently. They take ownership, adapt more readily, and invest more of themselves in the outcome. AI can support that environment, but it can\u2019t create it.<\/p>\n One of the clearest insights from Gallup\u2019s research<\/a> is that management is among the top drivers of successful AI adoption.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAI GIVES BACK TIME<\/strong><\/h2>\n
EFFICIENCIES GIVE YOU A CHOICE<\/strong><\/h2>\n
YOU CAN\u2019T AUTOMATE MEANING<\/strong><\/h2>\n
WHERE AI STRATEGIES ACTUALLY SUCCEED (OR FAIL)<\/strong><\/h2>\n