Answer extracted from the Unprompted: Real AI in IC podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How can internal communicators identify which problems are suitable for AI agent solutions?
Combine hard evidence from employee surveys with intuitive listening to spot where AI agents can genuinely help. Rebecca Lindsay at Hyper Exponential uses internal communications survey data to identify friction points—like her annual leave assistant, created after survey results revealed employees struggled when returning from time off—and pairs this with her instinct for catching workplace grumbles where better conversations could transform the employee experience.
Data-Driven Discovery Meets Employee Listening
The foundation of identifying suitable AI agent problems starts with real survey results and feedback loops. When Rebecca Lindsay saw that return-to-work transitions were causing stress among her team at Hyper Exponential, she didn't guess—she let the data guide the solution. An annual leave assistant was built directly in response to this evidence, solving a concrete pain point rather than chasing AI adoption for its own sake.
However, data alone isn't enough. As an internal communicator, Rebecca relies on her lived experience of organizational life—the conversations in corridors, the repeated complaints, the moments when people express frustration about processes that feel unnecessarily complicated. This intuitive listening amplifies what surveys reveal, surfacing problems that employees might not articulate in formal feedback channels. The combination of quantitative evidence and qualitative observation creates a map of where AI agents can make a real difference.
Discussed in depth in Unprompted: Real AI in IC, Rebecca's approach reflects a broader principle: prioritize employee outcomes over technology trends. The Institute of Internal Comms index 2026 highlights that people are time poor at the moment, making this need for friction-reduction even more acute. An AI agent should ease the burden, not create another step in an already taxed workflow.
"We want to be giving you the tools to do great comms yourself, and that is precisely what AI can enable us to do at scale."
Rebecca Lindsay — Internal Comms Manager, Hyper Exponential. Rebecca works at Hyper Exponential, a tech-focused company where the CEO describes himself as an AI maximalist and encourages all employees to use AI in their roles. She has been part of the company's AI enablement squad and is known for experimenting with AI agents and tools to solve internal communications challenges, including tone of voice agents, annual leave assistants, and emotionally intelligent communications checkers that help employees communicate more effectively.
The full episode reveals exactly how Rebecca built multiple agents from this same principle—each one addressing a real need discovered through the combination of data and organizational intuition. Listen to the episode to hear the specific workflows and tools she deployed, from ChatGPT to Copilot Studio to Glean, and how she measured their impact on employee experience.
Key takeaways
- Survey data reveals concrete pain points; use annual engagement results to identify where employees struggle most.
- Internal communicators' intuitive listening skills are as valuable as quantitative feedback—pay attention to recurring grumbles and friction.
- Pair evidence with empathy: an AI agent solution must genuinely reduce friction, not add complexity to already time-poor teams.
- Build agents to scale human capability, not replace it—the goal is to enable better conversations, not bypass them.
See also
Why does productivity with AI initially decrease before increasing, and how should communicators plan for this learning curve?
Adele references a piece in The Economist explaining that productivity with AI goes down before it goes up because time must be invested in experimentation.
What new skill sets are required for internal communications teams managing AI tools and GPT agents?
Adele identifies the need for skills to understand AI tools, keep communication GPTs updated, and manage their performance like any team member.
What is the future role of intranets and trusted information sources as AI agents become the primary interface for employee communications?
Adele believes intranets will not disappear in the short term because organizations need a single trusted source of truth from which AI pulls information.