A first draft now takes minutes. So do images, code and slides. AI has made everyone faster.
If everyone is faster, speed is no longer the difference.
The speed is real.
Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group ran an experiment with 758 consultants. On tasks AI does well, those using it finished 12% more tasks, worked 25% faster and delivered higher-quality results.
That gain is not small. Handing repetitive work to AI is no longer a choice; it’s a necessity.
But not on every task.
The second half of the same experiment gets less attention. On a complex management task outside AI’s capabilities, those using it were 19% less likely to reach the right answer.
The tool looked confident and misled them. Knowing which tasks fall inside the frontier, and which fall outside, is still a human job.
Cheaper isn’t always better.
In 2024, Klarna announced that its AI assistant was doing the work of 700 customer service agents. A year later, its CEO said the chatbots were cheaper but quality had dropped. The company began hiring human agents again.
Talking to customers is the most visible face of a brand. Saving money there can mean giving up part of the brand.
What does this mean for a brand?
Speed is now available to everyone. What makes the difference is what steers it: what to say, what fits the brand, and where a person steps in.
AI speeds up the work. Judgment carries the brand.
Where to start?
Look at your own work:
- Does a person read everything AI produces before it goes out?
- Have you written down which tasks you hand to AI, and which you don’t?
- Can your customers reach a person when they want to?
If you want to bring AI into your work without weakening your brand, let’s talk. We start with a short intro call.