Singapore took a significant step in solidifying its position as a global leader for artificial intelligence (AI) last year, committing more than $1 billion over the next five years to drive AI innovation and adoption. Employees in Singapore are primed for this transformation, with the country’s workforce ranking third (37%) globally for daily or near-daily AI usage, according to a recent Morning Consult report commissioned by Zoom.
However, many organisations are only using AI for surface-level functionalities such as automating repetitive tasks or meeting minutes. This limited approach could result in collaboration inefficiencies and platform complexity long-term, with employees struggling to navigate multiple apps.
With the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) taking effect this month, organisations will face increasing pressure to balance flexibility, productivity, and cost-efficiency. The latest challenge for businesses now lies in ensuring new technologies like AI deliver measurable value.
This has turned AI readiness into a new battleground where competitive advantage is defined by how effectively organisations can harness their potential, and raises an important question: how can organisations use AI correctly?
Reducing ‘work about work’
Employees are spending 60% of their time on ‘work about work’, or activities that take time away from meaningful tasks such as coordination, searching for documents, and tracking progress on projects. These are repetitive tasks that add little value to business growth. This is further compounded by the fact that 44% of leaders and 33% of employees report spending at least an hour daily in meetings or chats with no clear outcomes.
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This is a critical area where AI can make a transformative difference. Beyond simply sitting in on meetings for notetaking, it can now prepare meeting agendas in advance, and analyse conversations in real time to identify key priorities. It can even recommend which meetings are worth attending - and which would be better suited to sit out of, reviewing the notes afterwards.
By automating these workflows, employees can shift their focus towards innovation, strategic thinking, and the pursuits that give work more meaning and purpose. For organisations, this means more engaged teams with more time to deliver work that results in tangible business impact.
Resolving collaboration inefficiency
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Collaboration is another area where AI can unlock immense value. Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever, with up to five generations working side by side. Each generation has its way of connecting, communicating, and collaborating, both in terms of style and format, and companies need to cater to both. Younger employees, for example, prefer peer-to-peer connection, thrive on recognition, and enjoy learning through social media and bite-sized, immersive content. Older employees, on the other hand, often favour in-person, structured, and formal ways of communication.
For leaders, accommodating these varying styles can be a significant drain on productivity and time that could be better spent on strategic work. Tools that fail to cater to these diverse needs only exacerbate inefficient workflows.
AI has the potential to enable more advanced ways of collaboration. Imagine a senior leader hosting an in-person meeting, where AI intelligently summarises and kickstarts a single, collaborative document based on the key takeaways. The document is then shared with various team members for asynchronous collaboration, allowing everyone to participate in their preferred way, whether it is meeting in the office to discuss, brainstorming with a virtual whiteboard, or aligning on action items through instant messaging.
This can foster a stronger company culture, happier employees, and a more resilient, innovative, and efficient organisation.
Simplicity is Key
That said, organisations should take note not to overwhelm employees with excessive tools, even if it is for the sake of making work easier. According to the same Morning Consult report, teams already struggle with app fatigue, with 62% of leaders and 38% of employees in Singapore feeling overwhelmed by the tools and apps they need to use at work.
Every day, thousands of interactions occur, whether that’s through calls, meetings, chats, documents shared, ideas exchanged, problems solved, and decisions made. Instead of layering additional AI tools onto existing workflows or technology platforms, organisations should focus on integrating and consolidating AI technology seamlessly into a single platform.
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Additionally, leaders should consider democratising AI across the organisation to make it accessible to everyone, not just a select few. This can give all employees time back in their day to upskill themselves, work on more creative projects, or even take well-deserved breaks. This ensures teams can access multiple functionalities in one place, streamlining processes and reducing complexity. By leveraging the rich data generated from everyday interactions, AI can extract valuable insights and context for teams, freeing up their time to focus on meaningful, high-impact work.
AI for work that works
By streamlining workflows to enhance productivity, catering to diverse employee work styles, and adopting the right platforms, organisations can create a happier, more engaged workforce.
Looking ahead, the potential to reimagine the workplace with AI remains endless, but success hinges on first getting the foundations right. Ultimately, the true measure of AI's success will not be found in metrics or productivity graphs but in its ability to empower employees to do their best work, which drives meaningful business value.
Ricky Kapur, head of Asia Pacific at Zoom
