In my last post, I shared that the real risk isn’t AI – it’s standing still.
But let’s say you’ve taken a few steps… You’ve dabbled with the tools. You’ve automated meeting notes, sped up research, and had ChatGPT polish your comms so you sound like a seasoned literary critic.
Here’s now the critical question – What are you doing with the capacity AI has created?
I’ve been asking leaders and teams this exact question lately, and unfortunately not many can answer me… They don’t know. The time savings aren’t being measured. And when there’s no clear direction, that extra space just seems to get reabsorbed.
But time saved doesn’t automatically mean value added. Without intention, this extra capacity can just get swallowed by more meetings, more emails, more work. And suddenly, your day looks exactly the same, just faster.
That’s not transformation, that’s just busywork at scale. And if we’re not careful, it could lead to more burnout, not less. The risk isn’t AI working against us, it’s actually humans failing to think strategically about what this shift actually makes possible.
And I think right now, we’re playing a much smaller game than we could be.
From Routine to Remarkable
According to McKinsey, current GenAI tools could automate up to 60–70% of time spent on routine tasks across many roles. This is well beyond what experts predicted just a year or two ago!
That’s massive. And it’s also just the beginning… Most of us probably aren’t quite there yet. Right now, the best I’m seeing is maybe half a day a week.
So I see an opportunity here for us to be giving more to AI, and to get more back. Imagine what would happen if we gave AI more of the work it’s best suited for – the routine, the repetitive, the stuff that drains us. Because that’s where the real magic begins…
Think of Michelangelo sculpting David. He started by removing everything that wasn’t David. That’s what AI can help us do with our work – chip away at the repetitive, boring, energy-sapping parts of our day to reveal the work that truly matters.
This is what I call AI Crafting. It’s not just about working faster, it’s about leveraging the tech, reshaping your tasks, and intentionally creating the conditions to become your best self.It’s deliberately delegating the mundane, so you can reclaim the meaningful.
But this shift won’t happen by default. You have to choose it. Some people won’t and they’ll use AI to chase more. But others will use it to craft a better rhythm, build more fulfilment, and reconnect with the parts of their role that energise them.
It’s up to you to decide.
What Time Makes Possible
When we use AI to take the mundane off our plates, what we’re really doing is making space.
Space to think more strategically. To create and innovate. To solve problems. To lead more intentionally. To connect more meaningfully.
These are often the things we say we never have time for, they sit at the bottom of our list while we’re stuck being reactive or in back-to-back meetings. This is the human work, things that AI (hopefully) will never do better than us.
This is the work that energises us, engage and stretches us, helps us feel satisfied, fulfilled, and less stressed.
And when we have space for it (thanks AI), we should see:
- Greater engagement – helping address the 80% of employees who feel disengaged globally
- More fulfilment – especially for all of those ticking boxes but not truly thriving
- Deeper connection – at a time when loneliness is considered an epidemic
- More attractive cultures – which is still the #1 issue keeping many leaders up at night.
Suddenly the ROI of AI isn’t just about productivity anymore (and let’s be honest that doesn’t excite most people anyway), it’s about exponential value.
The question right now shouldn’t be ‘What can AI do?’ It’s ‘What will you do with the space it creates?’
If we’re bold enough to rethink how we work, what we value, and where we spend our energy, then AI could be the unlock we’ve been waiting for – not just for efficiency but deeper engagement, more satisfying work, and better results. What more could you want?!
These are the kinds of conversations we’ll be having at the upcoming AI Advantage Masterclass – if you’re ready to move beyond the tools and into real transformation, I’d love for you to join us.
So, will you create more value for yourself or just more work?
