Moving Beyond the "Efficiency" Trap in AI

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we measure success in the age of AI. It’s easy to get caught up in how many hours we’re saving, but is that actually moving the needle for our businesses?

I just finished an episode of the HBR IdeaCast featuring Tsedal Neeley. She hit on a point that really resonated with me: we often focus so much on the "ROI of efficiency"—the minutes and pennies saved—that we lose sight of whether those efficiencies are actually leading to better results.

There was a specific moment toward the end of the episode that stayed with me:

We have to stop obsessing on the efficiency gains and start obsessing on the outcomes. If you’re saving time but the quality of the work or the impact on the customer hasn't changed, you haven’t actually realized the true ROI of AI.

Listening in on this conversation has prompted me to dive deeper. I’m planning to listen to her book, The Digital Mindset, on Audible next to see how these principles apply to long-term strategy.

Have you found yourself falling into the "efficiency" trap? I’d love to hear how you’re measuring the actual impact of AI in your own work.