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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
In the past few years, the use of AI has accelerated. An employee asks AI a question they once would have\u00a0discussed with\u00a0a colleague. A presentation\u00a0that\u00a0used to take all\u00a0day\u00a0is ready before lunch.\u00a0Is this a good change? Or not?\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0hard to know since\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0adopting this\u00a0new technology\u00a0so quickly that\u00a0establishing\u00a0policies and strategies for its use often\u00a0lag\u00a0behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The use of AI to research, draft, analyze, summarize and solve problems is rapidly reshaping how people work together.\u00a0As new habits take hold, expectations about speed, collaboration and\u00a0good work\u00a0shift.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0how AI starts changing a company\u2019s culture.\u00a0Too often, those changes take hold before leaders have considered how AI use can reinforce the company\u2019s core values.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gallup\u2019s 2026 research<\/a>\u00a0gives us a glimpse of how differently employees are experiencing these changes. At workplaces that had implemented AI, 24% said their culture had improved over the past year, while 25% said it had worsened.\u00a0These two extremes show that AI alone doesn\u2019t determine the outcome. The choices that leaders make about how AI is used are what really matter.<\/p>\n As AI becomes part of the workday, leaders face three key tradeoffs. How leaders handle these clearly signals to employees what the organization values \u2014 and what it doesn\u2019t<\/p>\n A report\u00a0that once\u00a0took five hours now takes one.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0helpful, but someone still needs to question the findings and decide what they mean. If the response is \u201cproduce\u00a0more reports,\u201d there may be little time left for thinking, only doing \u2014 and the quality of output might suffer.\u00a0<\/p>\n An employee can ask AI a product question instead of calling someone in R&D.\u00a0That saves both people time, but they lose a conversation. The employee may never learn why a decision was\u00a0made,\u00a0and R&D may never hear what customers are asking. If that keeps happening, it becomes harder for the teams to solve problems together.\u00a0<\/p>\n What happens to the time AI saves? It could give someone room to tackle a harder problem, build a skill or work with another team. Or it could simply mean\u00a0more work is\u00a0expected,\u00a0and the risk of burnout increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n AI\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0make those choices. Leaders do\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and over time, their choices become the unwritten rules of work.\u00a0<\/p>\nAI is rewriting the unwritten rules of work\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Speed vs. critical thinking<\/h3>\n
Access to information vs. collaboration\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Efficiency vs. workload<\/h3>\n
Use AI to\u00a0reinforce the\u00a0culture\u00a0you\u00a0actually\u00a0want\u00a0<\/h2>\n