AI and humans are rarely portrayed as a good match – do we blame The Terminator? Most likely. Pop culture loves to cast us as chalk and cheese, an awkward pairing destined for drama. But in reality, we could be bread and butter – we just work better together, and you need both to make a truly excellent sandwich.
Matchmaking employees with AI can unlock all sorts of unexpected benefits – not just for the people and the tech, but for your company and your bottom line.
Let’s explore four unexpected benefits of employee involvement in AI that boost adoption, spark innovation, and drive lasting business success.
1. Better adoption and buy-in
If AI shows up at work like it just magically materialised overnight – don’t be surprised if people hesitate to embrace the change.
The fix? Remove the mystery. Let employees peek behind the curtain, understand the “why” behind the decisions, and sprinkle in their own seasoning while the AI sausage is being made. (ahem, apologies for that visual).
That means inviting them into the process early: run surveys, hold feedback sessions, and let them poke at early versions during pilot rollouts. This isn’t just about being nice – it’s smart business. Gallup found that between 52% and 56% of employees across all major age groups (18-64) say they want more influence on new technology adoption than they currently have. When employees strongly agree that leaders have communicated a clear plan for AI implementation, they are 2.9 times as likely to feel very prepared to work with AI and 4.7 times as likely to feel comfortable using AI in their role.
When people help build the thing, they tend to actually use the thing. Suddenly, AI stops being “the tool that was dumped on us by the higher ups” and becomes “our shiny new best friend that makes work easier.”
2. Improved solutions
Employees are the quiet heroes of those little niggles and tweaks that make everything run seamlessly. They know better than anyone what the tool needs to do and the problems it really needs to solve. Without that insight, it’s all too easy to design something that looks clever on paper but falls flat in practice.
When you design AI in partnership with the people who will actually be using the tools, you don’t just get something that works – you get something that works with them. Their knowledge helps spot the gaps, flag the edge cases, and highlight possible red flags – from security concerns to workflow bottlenecks – that might otherwise be overlooked. The end result isn’t a generic tool bolted awkwardly onto existing processes, but a solution that fits like a glove, anticipates real-world challenges, and actively improves how the team operates.
Gallup research shows that teams with highly engaged employees – the kind who feel heard and involved – see 14% higher productivity and 23% more profitability than those with low engagement. When people help shape the solution, the solution actually delivers.
3. Upskilling opportunities
For AI and automation to succeed, they need to be seen as tools that empower and enhance employee output – not as ominous replacements waiting in the wings. Think of AI more like a spoonful of sugar, it helps the work go down a whole lot easier, making the process smoother and more enjoyable.
Before the hoover, washing machine, and dishwasher, people spent entire days sweeping floors and hand-washing clothes. When those tools arrived, the chores didn’t vanish – they just got less time-consuming. You could throw clothes in the washing machine while hoovering and have the dishwasher running all at once. The human is still the nucleus making the task happen – we’ve just found a way to get three jobs done in three hours instead of three days.
History shows what happens when you free people from repetitive work: in the 20th century, household technology gave many women the time to pursue education, enter the workforce, and start businesses – all of which transformed economies and communities. AI works the same way. By taking on the repetitive, time-consuming bits, it frees people to focus on higher-value work and develop new skills.
For example, a customer service rep who once spent hours answering basic FAQs might now let AI handle those instantly, freeing them to hone client relationship or data analytics skills. And it’s not just theory – the World Economic Forum reports that 77% of employers plan to upskill employees by 2030 so they can work effectively alongside AI.
4. Cultural alignment
Tech teams and end users need to be in sync to ensure AI and automation roll-outs align with company culture. If one side builds something that doesn’t actually fit when it comes to real-world use, you’ve invested time and effort into a tool destined to sit out of sight, gathering metaphorical dust.
When the people building AI tools and the people requesting them aren’t aligned, you risk ending up with a flashy system that looks impressive but doesn’t serve the business. But when collaboration happens early and often, the result reflects your company’s values, goals, and unique flavour – something people actually want to use, not hide away.
McKinsey reports that:
“Successful organisations also gather individuals’ expertise and embed it in the design of automation solutions. Respondents reporting success are much more likely than others to say their companies scale up their automation programs by using “human in the loop” solutions – that is, training automation platforms with people’s input over time”.
Conclusion
We’re not in competition with AI – the real value isn’t in the code or the algorithms, it’s in how well it’s woven into the everyday rhythm of the people who’ll use it. Involve them early, and you avoid ending up with a tool that looks impressive but doesn’t actually get used or deliver results.
When AI is shaped with the people who will actually use it – tapping into their niggles, tweaks, and hard-won know-how – it stops being a clunky addition and becomes something that genuinely elevates the way we work. Done right, AI isn’t the star of the show – it’s the supporting act that helps people shine.
Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education
UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.
We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.
Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).
A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.
Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.
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