Intentionally incorporating AI before, during, and after meetings leads to better group outcomes, according to a new analysis.

AI adoption is accelerating, but most organizations overlook where much of their work happens: in teams. Managers routinely use AI for individual tasks, yet rarely bring it into meetings, workshops, and other collaborative work. Research conducted with more than 300 managers across 35 organizations shows that AI can improve the full arc of teamwork. Before meetings, it can sharpen preparation and pressure-test ideas; during them, it can challenge assumptions and broaden perspectives; afterward, it can facilitate reflection and turn lessons into reusable practices. Capturing these benefits requires two conditions to be met. Intentionality must be present as only the team leader has the agency to decide to change how the team activity is conducted. And craft provides structure in terms of the right context and prompts to bring about the best AI output.

At a recent town-hall meeting with 200 senior managers and executives from a leading energy company, we asked three simple questions.

  • First: “Raise your hand if you use AI multiple times a day at work.” All hands went up. The room buzzed with confidence. AI had clearly become part of everyone’s daily routine.
  • Next: “Keep your hand up if you also use AI together with your teams and colleagues.” Nearly every hand went down. A murmur moved through the room.
  • Finally: “Raise your hand if your days are packed with meetings, calls, and work sessions with your teams and colleagues.” All hands went up again.

People glanced around and suddenly the pattern was impossible to ignore: While almost everyone was using AI extensively in their individual work, it was contained to one person, one screen, one task a time. Very few were using it as part of the collaborative work that filled most of their day.

We have observed this collective blind spot repeatedly across organizations, sectors, and geographies. According to the Capgemini Research Institute, only 7% of managers and leaders actively use AI in team settings. We explore this dynamic and provide a deep, practical playbook for bringing AI into teamwork and group work in our book the HBR Guide to Generative AI for Teams.

The blind spot is easy to miss because most organizations measure AI adoption at the individual level. They track whether people use AI, how frequently, and for which tasks. What they often miss is whether AI is being used in teamwork too. As a result, leaders may overestimate how deeply AI has been embedded into the actual flow of organizational work.