Guest blog: How AI can help solve the hybrid work collaboration paradox

A guest blog from Piers Horobin, Head of Public Sector, UK at Zoom as part of our Digital Transformation in the Public Sector #techUKDigitalPS

In his recent speech on the transformative potential of AI, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden MP called AI a “silver bullet” for increasing productivity, with the potential to create substantial efficiency savings and improve the UK’s public services. He had previously predicted that AI would have a more significant impact than the industrial revolution. These are bold declarations from one of the UK’s most measured ministers, but also a good reflection of emerging consensus that doubling down on responsible AI is essential if the UK is to deliver a more advanced public sector.

Dowden is also the UK minister responsible for transforming the productivity of the Civil Service, and his candour about the outdated internal systems and bureaucratic hurdles that hold officials back from producing meaningful and productive work was revealing: the UK Government knows how it operates is ripe for disruption with AI, but hasn’t quite yet worked out how to do this practically at scale.

Civil servants and other UK public bodies are not outliers in this regard. Despite the digital adoption we have seen across advanced economies in recent years, workers across sectors still spend significant parts of their day on unproductive, repetitive tasks that get in the way of driving their organisation forward. One recent report from the Alan Turing Institute found that 84% of repetitive transactions performed by UK civil servants could be easily automated using AI.

At Zoom, we are strong believers in the benefits of hybrid and asynchronous working, but it’s also often true that when internal teams are spread out across different locations and don’t have the necessary tools, it can slow collaboration down. And despite the huge potential of AI to improve productivity across Government and businesses, too often these opportunities are not being taken. For example, a recent report from the National Audit Office on the use of AI in Government found that overall, the Government’s strategy lacks governance and accountability, and further assessment and investment is needed to realise the productivity gains from AI. Across the private sector, only one-in-ten organisations are currently fully prepared to roll out the technology, despite the importance of AI being almost universally recognised.

So as one of the world’s leading unified communications platforms, how can we solve this collaboration paradox? We started by commissioning a Morning Consult survey to understand how employees and leaders are spending their workdays and whether their most time-consuming tasks could potentially be aided by AI. This revealed that over 70% of the business leaders polled carry out administrative tasks several times a week, including sharing notes, action updates, and status updates to teams and customers. For those teams that have begun deploying AI, more than 75% of the leaders reported their employees completed tasks faster, were more productive, and produced higher quality work.

When employees and leaders were asked to identify which benefits of using AI at work were the most helpful, the top responses were related to saving time — either by reducing the number of repetitive tasks, completing work faster, or using that time for something else. In fact, a staggering 89% of employees polled said that the automation of routine tasks meant they had more time to focus on more important activities that increase output, drive revenue, and otherwise move the needle — thereby improving their productivity. For public sector organisations this might mean more time developing policies, delivering citizen-facing services, participating in learning and development activities and much more.

Zoom welcomes the Government’s renewed focus on harnessing AI to its full potential, but to do this AI tools must be accessible. That means workers at all levels and at organisations of all sizes having access to AI-powered super-powers that enhance and streamline their workday. That’s why we are including Zoom AI Companion at no additional cost with all paid services in Zoom Workplace plans. In this way and more, we look forward to playing our role in supporting the simple and efficient use of AI in everyday life.