Employees may be saving hours each week using AI, but much of that time is being lost to correcting errors, rewriting content, and double-checking outputs, according to new global research from Workday.
The report, Beyond Productivity: Measuring the Real Value of AI, finds that while AI tools are delivering clear productivity gains, many organisations are failing to capture their full value. Instead of translating speed into better outcomes, employees are often left fixing mistakes generated by generic AI tools — creating a false sense of efficiency and return on investment.
According to the research, 85% of employees say AI saves them between one and seven hours a week. However, those gains are frequently absorbed by rework, as roles, skills, and processes have not evolved to keep pace with the technology.
“Too many AI tools push the hard questions of trust, accuracy, and repeatability back onto individual users,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, president of product and technology at Workday. “That leaves employees wiring things together and fact-checking every answer on their own, rather than focusing on judgment, creativity, and connection.”
The AI productivity paradox
Workday’s research highlights what it calls an “AI productivity paradox”: AI increases capacity, but without changes to how work is designed, that extra capacity does not consistently translate into better results. Instead, organisations risk mistaking speed for impact.
The study shows that while leaders broadly agree AI-driven productivity gains should benefit employees, reinvestment often falls short. Organisations are more likely to reinvest time savings into technology (39%) than employee development (30%). Similarly, saved time is more often used to increase workload (32%) than to help employees build AI skills (26%).
As a result, many workers are left to figure out how to use AI effectively on their own — one prompt, and one task, at a time.
Turning speed into value
By contrast, organisations seeing the greatest returns treat AI-generated time savings as a strategic resource. They reinvest in upskilling employees, redesigning roles, and strengthening work that depends on judgement, creativity, and decision-making.
“At Workday, our philosophy is that AI should do the complex work under the hood,” Kazmaier said. “That’s how organisations turn AI-powered speed into durable, human-led advantage.”
The research concludes that reinvesting in people is the fastest way to reduce rework, improve outcomes, and turn AI productivity gains into lasting business value — rather than time spent correcting the machines meant to save it.
