This week’s newsletter is dedicated entirely to one paper detailing an AI experiment at Procter & Gamble.

First, because I worked for them and I am heavily biased 😂.

Second, because this study challenges what we assume about how AI and work... work. (yes yes, Rihana vibes 🎵)

So what happened: researchers from Harvard Business School, Wharton, and Procter & Gamble ran a large-scale, real-world experiment on AI. And the results are incredible.

🧪 The Background – Real People, Real Work, Real AI

The fine print - this was a large field experiment with 776 experienced professionals from Procter & Gamble, engaging a virtual product development process.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups:

1. Individuals without Gen AI
2. Teams of two without Gen AI.
3. Individuals with Gen AI.
4. Teams of two with Gen AI.

All ideas were evaluated by independent experts for creativity, feasibility, and overall quality.

So what happened?

🔍 The Key Findings

1️⃣ One person with AI = two people without it

Solo professionals using Gen AI performed as well or better than two-person teams without AI. Let that sink in: One person + AI matched the output of two trained professionals working together.

2️⃣ Teams with AI produced the best results

Teams using AI generated more exceptional ideas – ideas ranked in the top 10% for creativity and impact.

They weren’t just efficient. They were smarter, more balanced, and more innovative.

3️⃣ AI blurred traditional job boundaries

Without AI, people stuck to their expertise:

• R&D stayed technical
• Commercial roles focused on marketing or sales

With AI? Those walls came down, baby!

• R&D professionals proposed more market-savvy ideas
• Commercial folks leaned into technical solutions

AI helped people think beyond their function. And brought functions together.

4️⃣ It didn’t just work better – it felt better.

Participants using AI reported:

• 15% less frustration
• 25% more excitement
• More confidence, less anxiety

🧠 To summarize:

🔹 AI can match – or outperform – the collaboration of human teams.

🔹 It breaks down silos and expands how people think

🔹 It makes work more enjoyable and less stressful

🚀 Bringing It All Together - Why should you care about this as a leader?

Most of us talk about AI as a tool.

Something to speed things up. A way to save time. I know I do.

But this study shows something more powerful: AI didn’t just support, it improved the experience of work. It can become your work Best Friend Forevaaaaaaaaa.

So here’s what this means for us:

1️⃣ We need to stop thinking of AI as just a tool

It’s not just a writing assistant or a productivity hack. In the right conditions, it’s a teammate – one that contributes to both performance and creativity.

2️⃣ Our team structures might need to evolve

If AI helps R&D think commercially and marketing think technically how will roles and collaboration evolve? How will org charts look? How will we plan for our workforce? How will ours - and others' - look like?

3️⃣ Experimentation it's not a "let's do it one day when we have time"

If a study like this can show such dramatic improvements, what are we waiting for?

Start small. Run a sprint with AI embedded into a team. Let the results speak for themselves.

If this is what’s possible today – not five years from now – the real risk is... waiting.

So let's get to 🎵 work, work.... work, work...🎵

I'll see you next week.

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