AI as a Teammate: What It Means for Leaders

What if one person with AI could match the performance of an entire team? That’s the question researchers explored in a large experiment with professionals at Procter & Gamble. The results are striking: individuals using AI didn’t just keep up with groups, they often produced more balanced and breakthrough solutions than teams without AI.

Think about what that means. For decades, we’ve assumed teamwork is essential for creativity and innovation. Teams bring diverse perspectives, share expertise, and spark new ideas. But this study shows AI can play that role too — acting less like a tool and more like a “cybernetic teammate.”

The impact wasn’t only technical. Participants using AI reported feeling more positive, more energized, and less frustrated than those working alone. AI made the work feel lighter, smoother, even motivating. It also blurred boundaries: without AI, R&D experts focused narrowly on technical solutions while commercial professionals stuck to market-driven ideas. With AI, both groups ventured outside their silos, producing richer, more holistic solutions.

This is the kind of shift that goes beyond productivity. It’s about how organizations structure work, how leaders measure impact, and how teams think about collaboration itself. If AI is no longer just another tool but a teammate, then the old ways of tracking success — counting hours, commits, or even meetings — fall short.

That’s where our perspective at Avalia comes in. We’ve seen the same pattern in software engineering: when you improve Developer Experience, performance isn’t just about faster code delivery. It’s about retention, motivation, and alignment with business outcomes. That’s why we created DX Hub — to give CIOs and CTOs a way to see these dynamics in real time, in business language, and to show the ROI of changes that might otherwise feel intangible.

The lesson for leaders is clear. AI will change collaboration as profoundly as digital tools once changed communication. But just adopting it isn’t enough. To turn AI’s promise into business value, you need to measure what matters, connect technical improvements to business impact, and give your teams — human and machine — the environment they need to thrive.

Source: Harvard Business School - The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise