Don't waste the time that AI saves
Competitive advantage lies not in simply deploying AI, but in the way leaders turn that found time into value
Key takeaways:
AI's ability to deliver efficiency is no longer in doubt. The real question is whether your organization turns that added efficiency into impact.
The competitive advantage now lies not in deploying AI, but in designing how teams reinvest the time AI creates.
AI may give your organization hours back. Leadership determines whether those hours matter.
AI is already delivering massive efficiency gains across the enterprise, but the next significant competitive leap lies in wisely using the extra time capacity that AI creates.
More than half of knowledge workers use AI-enhanced tools at work, according to Freshworks' Global AI Workplace Report, saving an estimated 3 hours and 47 minutes per week on tasks such as writing summaries, suggesting next steps, and automating repetitive work. That's roughly a whole month of work recovered per year, according to the report. At Freshworks, engineers who use AI reduce coding time by 30%. But according to a study by MIT Sloan, Microsoft Research, and GitHub AI, 36% of managers report wasting more than half of the time saved with AI.
When time is reinvested, it usually goes toward "more of the same" rather than higher-value activities.
“AI creates capacity, but leadership decides how that capacity becomes value and affects the bottom line,” says Sriram Iyer, Vice President of Product at Freshworks. “Without that focus, it’s very easy for these efficiency gains to evaporate. Great managers need to treat these time savings as a redeployable resource, not a passive efficiency.”
Revenue opportunities from time savings
At Big Bus Tours, the world's largest operator of open-top sightseeing tours, implementing new AI tools for agents helped them save up to 20% of time on each customer interaction. With more time on their hands, agents transitioned into a hybrid service-sales role, transforming a traditional cost center into a profit engine.
“We were able to streamline processes and change how our agents worked,” said Ollie Wildeman, vice president of Customer Experience.
Just like Big Bus, companies can use the found-time opportunity to reconsider old structures and beliefs.
“The strongest teams use the extra space AI creates to question assumptions, explore alternatives, and rethink decisions that have been running on autopilot,” said Dr. Diane Hamiltion, a business behavioral psychologist. “Curiosity drives judgment, creativity, and adaptability, and those skills decide whether the time saved by AI becomes value or wasted potential.”
Time to tackle the backlog
Bandwidth created by AI also allows teams to get caught up and turn to more substantive improvement projects that may have been swept aside. At the Christie NHS Foundation Trust—Europe's largest single-site cancer hospital—a legacy service management system had become what Digital Operations Lead Dan Hollands calls "an absolute beast": expensive, inflexible, and generating nearly useless data from a staff of more than 4,000. Clinicians often sent vague email requests like "my printer's broken," forcing IT staff into endless clarification cycles instead of problem-solving.
Read also: The AI ROI roadmap
In 2023, The Christie implemented Freshservice and Freddy AI Copilot, which streamlined problem ticket requests by summarizing issues, suggesting next actions, and generating quick, accurate responses. The time savings has been “a game changer,” according to Hollands. “It means our agents spend more time on the work that makes a real difference,” including faster procurement approval, he said.
In the world of finance, a recent study found that accountants using generative AI for foundational tasks reallocated 8.5% of their time—about 3.5 hours per week—from routine data entry to high-value work like business communication and quality assurance. AI adopters also increased weekly client support by 55% compared to non-users.
"The time savings from AI has been a game changer. It means our agents spend more time on the work that makes a real difference."
Dan Hollands
Digital Operations Lead
How to reallocate time saved from AI
According to researcher Isabelle Engeler, an associate professor at HEC Lausanne, and leaders need to treat the savings that AI assistants deliver as a workflow design issue and apply a structure to track, implement, and monitor its success. This includes the following:
1. Pinpoint and measure precisely where AI saves time.
Start small and specific. Identify workflows with observable before-and-after metrics. This may include areas like code generation and review, documentation and ticket summarization, troubleshooting and triage, knowledge base article drafting, and internal report preparation. Pilot in one team first, quantify gains, then expand. This could be tricky. Leaders may have trouble isolating the value of AI because it usually appears alongside improvements to data, processes, and team structure. Use self-reporting, daily time logs, or lightweight telemetry from workflow platforms to identify expanding bandwidth. Once teams see the minutes stack up, they become more intentional.
2. Be specific about how reclaimed time is used.
Do not assume people will reinvest their time in high-value work. Notes Dr. Diane Hamilton, a business behavioral psychologist: “AI can create capacity, but people create value.” Companies should delineate specific ideas for using the AI time savings, such as modernizing internal tools, strengthening security, improving documentation, or experimenting with new features.
3. Monitor this time reallocation closely.
This is a leadership practice, not a one-time directive. Regular coaching, reviews, and team check-ins help ensure that efficiency gains remain visible and reinvestment remains aligned with priorities. Critically, value does not leak back into low-impact busywork. This discipline is what turns AI into a productivity engine instead of a novelty.
