A six-month, cross-industry randomized trial shows how generative AI is reshaping work.
The promise of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow theory” is that people do their best work when they can enter a flow state, or stay deeply engaged in a challenging task without constant interruption. Yet the structure of knowledge work often pulls in the opposite direction: workers move from email to document to meeting and back again, rarely getting long stretches of uninterrupted attention. This makes the arrival of generative AI in the office a practical test of a larger question: can AI alter the rhythms of work, or does it simply add another layer to existing routines? In “Shifting Work Patterns With Generative AI,” a team including HBS AI Institute Associate Christopher Stanton provides early evidence across 66 firms and more than 7,000 workers to examine how access to AI changed day-to-day work behavior.
Why This Matters
For business leaders, this study challenges two assumptions that can quietly shape AI strategy: that adoption is already widespread once a tool is available, and that productivity gains will appear evenly across the organization. The evidence suggests a more uneven reality. That means leaders should be careful not to confuse access with adoption, or isolated efficiency with transformation. The strategic question is not just how to deploy AI, but where it is actually taking hold, which workflows it is improving, and what organizational support is needed to turn small pockets of reclaimed time into broader changes in how work gets done.
Link to the HBS AI Institute Insight Article
Link to the Research Paper
Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with HBS AI Institute news and research