The Companies Winning With AI Aren’t Replacing Their Teams

Joel Burleson-Davis is the CTO at Imprivata, where he’s responsible for building, delivering, and evolving cybersecurity products.

Every major technology shift creates a temptation to optimize work around what’s easiest to measure. With AI, that often means speed.

Soon after AI tools are deployed, I’ve watched organizations rush to measure success through code generated, tasks automated or hours saved. While those metrics may demonstrate early momentum, they rarely translate directly into value or lasting competitive advantage. The organizations creating meaningful outcomes with AI understand that the bigger opportunity is improving how teams work together.

The AI Adoption Trap: Speed Is A Byproduct, Not The Goal

A lot of today’s AI conversation is centered on automation, headcount reduction and productivity gains. In fact, an Atlassian survey found that 76% of executives see increased employee productivity as the top measure of AI success. That pressure is understandable. Everyone wants to show progress. But making individual contributors work faster is not, generally speaking, a valuable business outcome.

A lot of the drag in modern organizations comes from context scattered across project tracking, documentation, email and messaging, code repositories and domain-specific tools. AI is most valuable when it connects that context, so teams spend less time chasing information and more time applying judgment.

The organizations getting the most from AI are using it to improve coordination, make better decisions and move faster across teams. Atlassian found that organizations prioritizing personal productivity as their primary AI outcome were 16% less likely to drive innovation than those focused on coordination. The broader point is simple: AI’s biggest value isn’t helping individuals finish isolated tasks faster. It’s removing the friction that slows teams down.