24/08/2026
AI can optimize the parts of your business.
But who is optimizing the whole?
A 2026 ILO review found AI can generate 10-70% productivity gains at the task level.
But those gains often don’t translate into measurable productivity at the firm level.
The ILO calls this the “aggregation paradox.”
Why?
Because making one task faster doesn’t necessarily make the system faster.
If information still gets lost between teams…
If people still duplicate work…
If approvals still sit in inboxes…
If AI tools don’t talk to each other…
If employees still have to coordinate everything manually…
Then you’ve accelerated individual tasks inside a slow system.
And there’s another warning sign:
Thomson Reuters’ 2026 research found 34% of professionals are already using AI tools their organizations haven’t sanctioned.
AI adoption is moving faster than organizational design.
That’s the real opportunity.
Not putting AI everywhere.
Designing the business so AI actually compounds.
Connect the systems.
Redesign the workflows.
Capture the knowledge.
Automate the handoffs.
Keep humans focused on judgment.
Because the goal isn’t:
“How much AI are we using?”
It’s:
“How much better does the business work because of it?”