AI is top of mind for every transformation leader.
From automation to insights, teams are under pressure to plug AI into their operations—fast!
And organizations aren’t just dabbling. A recent Quickbase study shows that 72% of business leaders plan to increase their AI budgets this year.
But here’s the catch: investing in AI doesn’t guarantee impact. And for many teams, progress stalls before AI even gets a chance to prove itself.
The reason? AI can’t fix what it can’t see.
The Invisible Roadblocks Slowing You Down
Before you can get value out of AI, you need operations that are connected and clean enough for AI to work with. But that’s often not the case.
That’s because most teams are still weighed down by a hidden productivity blocker we call Gray Work—the manual, tedious tasks people take on just to keep things moving.
Think:
- Copying data from one system to another
- Building spreadsheets to reconcile conflicting information
- Chasing status updates across email, chat, and apps
This is the stuff that doesn’t show up in your workflow charts but eats up hours of your team’s time. In fact, 59% of professionals in our survey said they spend 11+ hours each week just tracking down information. That’s a day and a half lost, not to strategy or innovation, but to the work in between the work that actually adds value to your business.
And if that work is invisible to you? It’s invisible to AI, too.
Spreadsheets Aren’t the Villain, They’re the Symptom
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: spreadsheets.
Yes, they’re everywhere. Yes, people rely on them way too much. But spreadsheets have a very specific job to do, and they do it well: to organize data. But where they fall short is putting that data to work. Turning those insights into action. Businesses use them for functions they weren’t built for, and in turn, spreadsheets are no longer the solution; they’re the problem. This is where AI comes in. But AI can only work as hard as the data it’s given. So, the question now becomes: Is all your spreadsheet data ready for AI?
Getting AI-Ready Starts with Operational Clarity
Most teams aren’t held back by a lack of tools; they’re held back by tangled operations. Disconnected systems, duplicated data, and manual workarounds create friction at every turn. And until you fix that, AI can’t gain traction.
So, what can you do instead?
Start by asking a few simple questions:
- Where is work getting delayed or duplicated?
- Which decisions take too long, and why?
- What kind of “side work” do teams do just to make things function?
Once you start mapping this out, you’ll see the cracks. That’s your Gray Work. And chances are, it’s happening in all the little handoffs, between teams, between tools, and between systems that were never really built to work together.
Because once your workflows are connected, data is consistent, and teams aren't stuck stitching things together manually, that’s when AI actually has something to work with.
Don’t Let Gray Work Set the Limits
There’s a lot of excitement about what AI can do. But if your day-to-day operations are running on duct tape and workarounds, AI will just layer on top of the mess.
Clean, connected workflows aren’t just a “nice to have.” They’re the foundation. And addressing Gray Work is the first real step to unlocking any meaningful return on your AI investments.
Watch our on-demand webinar: Will SaaS Sprawl Cost Your AI Transformation?
Learn how to uncover hidden Gray Work, connect your operations, and set your AI efforts for real, measurable success.
Because AI only works when your workflows do.
