Workday Inc. says new global research shows many organisations are failing to capture the full productivity upside of AI, with a significant share of time saved being spent fixing low-quality outputs.

In its report, Beyond Productivity: Measuring the Real Value of AI, the company found employees are gaining meaningful time back through AI tools, but those gains are frequently absorbed by rework—correcting errors, rewriting content, and double-checking results from generic systems.

According to Workday the strongest performers are separating themselves by reinvesting saved time into people and operating models, including skills development, role redesign and modernising workflows to convert speed into sustained business impact.

“Too many AI tools push the hard questions of trust, accuracy, and repeatability back onto individual users,” said Gerrit Kazmaier, president, product and technology, Workday.

“At Workday, we’ve spent years delivering AI as simple, human‑centered solutions – not raw technology – so customers aren’t left to wire things together and fact‑check every answer on their own.

“Our philosophy is that AI should do the complex work under the hood so people can focus on judgment, creativity, and connection. That’s how organisations turn AI‑powered speed into durable, human‑led advantage.” said Kazmaier

AI Productivity Paradox: Time Saved Often Lost to Rework

Key findings include:

• Nearly 40% of AI time savings are lost to rework, including correcting errors, rewriting content, and verifying outputs from one-size-fits-all AI tools. Only 14% of employees consistently get clear, positive net outcomes from AI.
  
  
• Frequent users feel the most strain: Employees who use AI every day are overwhelmingly optimistic – more than 90% believe it will help them succeed. But they also carry the biggest burden: 77% review AI-generated work just as carefully as work done by humans, if not more.
  
  
• Younger employees bear the biggest burden: Employees aged 25–34 make up nearly half (46%) of those dealing with the most AI rework. Despite being seen as the most tech-savvy, they spend the most time checking and fixing AI output.
  
  
• Training gaps persist: While 66% of leaders cite skills training as a top priority, only 37% of employees experiencing the highest amount of rework say they’re getting access to it – revealing a clear disconnect between leadership intent and employee experience.

Research suggests AI is delivering real time savings for employees, but much of that productivity is being eroded by the need to correct and verify low-quality output—creating what researchers describe as a “false” sense of return on investment.

The findings show 85% of employees report saving between one and seven hours per week using AI. Yet nearly 40% of that time is effectively lost to rework—fixing errors, rewriting content and double-checking results from one-size-fits-all tools—and only 14% of workers say they consistently achieve clear, positive net outcomes.

Daily AI users reported the highest optimism—and the highest burden. More than 90% of frequent users believe AI will help them succeed, but 77% say they review AI-generated work as carefully as, or more carefully than, work produced by humans.

The rework load is falling disproportionately on younger staff, with employees aged 25 to 34 accounting for 46% of those dealing with the most AI-related rework.

At the same time, the research points to a training shortfall: while 66% of leaders say skills training is a top priority, only 37% of employees experiencing the most rework report receiving access to that training.

The study also suggests job design has not kept pace with rapid AI uptake. In 89% of organisations, fewer than half of roles have been updated to reflect new AI capabilities, leaving employees to integrate modern tools into outdated workflows and processes.

Reinvestment Gap

Most organisations agree AI gains should benefit employees, but reinvestment is often flowing elsewhere.

The research found companies are more likely to direct AI time savings back into technology (39%) than employee development (30%), while 32% are using the time saved to increase workload rather than build capability.

By contrast, employees reporting positive AI outcomes are far more likely to spend saved time on higher-value work—including deeper analysis, stronger decision-making and strategic thinking (57%)—and are significantly more likely to have received additional skills training (79%).

The report argues organisations seeing the strongest returns are treating time saved as a strategic resource—reinvesting in upskilling, collaboration and judgement-based work to reduce rework, improve outcomes and turn AI-driven speed into lasting business value

Workday is used by more than 11,000 organisations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500