AI saves time but most companies waste the gain, study shows

A new Boston Consulting Group study found that 74% of non-managerial white-collar workers now regularly use AI, a 23-point increase from last year, yet most companies fail to convert time savings into measurable value. Over 40% of these regular users reported saving a full workday or more per week, but BCG said leaders have not learned how to derive value from the freed-up time.

Employees across industries continue to adopt AI tools at a rapid rate, yet the technology’s impact on productivity and efficiency is uneven and muddled, according to a new study. Some 74% of white-collar workers with no managerial duties count themselves as regular users of artificial intelligence, a 23 percentage point increase from a year earlier, according to Boston Consulting Group’s latest AI at Work report. But many enterprises struggle to convert AI-driven efficiency gains into measurable value, BCG said. More than 40% of the regular AI users among the white-collar workers not involved in management reported saving a full work day or more per week from using such tools. Still, leaders and organizations are yet to learn how to derive value from the saved time, BCG said.