Good morning! Fortune reporter Emma Burleigh here, filling in for Kristin.
AI is helping employees get more done in less time. As companies race to capitalize on those efficiency gains, some executives are rethinking how they measure the technology’s success—and what it should ultimately deliver for their businesses and workers.
From unlocking creativity and innovation to protecting employees’ brain health, leaders are taking a broader view of AI’s impact on the workplace. The stakes are growing: U.S. employees who frequently use AI report higher burnout rates than those who don’t, according to 2026 data from Quantum Workplace.
For Athina Kanioura, global chief strategy and transformation officer and CEO of PepsiCo Latin America, rethinking AI’s value means challenging the pressure to prove immediate financial returns. Speaking with panelists from Indeed, Dropbox, and Bristol Myers Squibb at the Fortune Most Powerful Women conference last week, Kanioura argued that requiring a business case for every AI application risks overlooking benefits that are harder to quantify. She described the relentless pursuit of ROI as “death by a thousand cuts.”
At Indeed, AI is already delivering measurable productivity gains, helping software engineers write 50% more code and saving employees six hours a week, according to chief revenue officer Maggie Hulce. The company is looking to put that newfound time toward creative thinking and innovation, giving employees more opportunities to do work they enjoy. “We’re moving faster, we can innovate faster, we can invent faster, we can do fun work more and more,” said Hulce.
Other leaders are exploring how to keep employees mentally sharp. Dropbox chief people officer Melanie Rosenwasser said the $8 billion cloud company is examining the risk of “cognitive atrophy” as workers increasingly outsource their thinking to AI. Dropbox has introduced memory exercises, attention-span training, and puzzles. It also experimented with device-free “analog” off-sites and brought in a breathwork specialist for its executive team.
“When you outsource your thinking to AI, you become less intelligent in the process,” Rosenwasser said, referencing research from MIT professor Eric So. “So we need to be very deliberate about how we’re using these tools.”
At Bristol Myers Squibb, EVP and chief people officer Amanda Poole is weighing how much of the productivity gained from automating “joyless” work should go back to employees to support their well-being. The company has begun exploring a “well-being quotient” to decide how to split those gains between the business and its workforce.
“Let’s say we’re going to get 20% productivity [with AI]: What part are we going to take back as a company, and what part are we going to give back?” Poole said, adding, “We haven’t solved it, so more to come.”
Emma Burleigh
Fortune Success Reporter
[email protected]
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
