Answer extracted from the Unprompted: Real AI in IC podcast — listen to the full episode below.
Will AI productivity gains automatically free you for more strategic work?
No—saving time through AI does not automatically translate to strategic work, warns Amanda Atkinson. If you are already stuck in tactical work with limited time to be strategic, AI will simply help you do tactical work faster, not break the cycle. The real opportunity is to invest those saved hours into exploring AI itself and identifying specific use cases that align with your actual needs.
The assumption that efficiency gains equal strategic freedom is seductive but misleading. Amanda emphasizes that time saved without intentional redirection will vanish into the same tactical patterns that already consume your day. You must consciously decide where reclaimed time goes, or it defaults to filling the gaps left by faster work.
This distinction matters enormously in internal communications, where practitioners often report having only about 30 minutes or less per day to communicate with their teams. Adding AI-assisted tactical tasks to this already fractured schedule does not solve the underlying structural problem—it just makes the problem move faster.
The trap of efficiency without intention
Amanda's caution cuts against a common narrative in AI adoption: the idea that tools automatically liberate knowledge workers. Instead, she argues that the burden of intentional work allocation shifts entirely to you. If you lack clarity on what strategic work looks like or how to prioritize it, AI acceleration becomes a distraction rather than a catalyst.
As explained in this episode of Unprompted, the most effective approach is to start by understanding your own work first, then use AI to enhance it. Amanda describes her own process: "Where I start with AI, I find myself just getting a mess. Where I start with my own work and then use AI to enhance and challenge, that's where it works best for me." This principle applies equally to reclaimed time—you must know your priorities before you can redirect savings toward them.
The consequence is practical: if you are truly resource-constrained and struggling to find breathing room for strategy, the first investment should be time spent exploring AI use cases specific to your role and organization. This exploration itself becomes the bridge between tactical acceleration and strategic clarity. Without it, productivity gains simply compound the problem.
Where to invest the time AI saves
Amanda recommends a deliberate reallocation strategy. Rather than assuming freed time will naturally flow toward strategy, you should invest those hours into learning what AI can genuinely do for your comms challenges. Discussed at length in the full conversation, this approach treats AI exploration as strategic work in itself—because identifying the right tools and workflows is the foundation for all downstream decisions.
This perspective reframes the entire relationship between productivity and strategy. Time saved becomes an investment fund, not a vacation. The question shifts from "What will I do with extra hours?" to "What do I need to understand about AI to unlock real value for my team?"
"Where I start with AI, I find myself just getting a mess. Where I start with my own work and then use AI to enhance and challenge, that's where it works best for me."
Amanda Atkinson — Communication and Culture Leader at Science Based Targets Initiative and Founder of Create Connect. Amanda has built her career in internal comms across multiple industries, spending seven years leading internal comms for EMEA at Salesforce, where she developed a deeply tech-driven mindset. She describes herself as an AI intrepid explorer, committed to understanding AI applications while remaining honest about the learning curve ahead.
One practical detail that surfaces in the episode but extends beyond this question alone: Amanda's use of a personal Slack channel to capture insights throughout her day—voice notes, forwarded emails, ideas, and observations—which she later synthesizes. This micro-habit hints at a larger workflow philosophy that shows why understanding your own work patterns comes before optimizing them with AI.
Key takeaways
- AI saves time on tactical tasks, but does not automatically redirect you toward strategy unless you have a deliberate plan for those reclaimed hours.
- If you are already trapped in tactical work, faster tactical work via AI will deepen the cycle, not break it—you must interrupt the pattern through intention, not speed.
- The highest-value use of AI-saved time is exploring specific AI use cases and workflows that match your real organizational needs and communication challenges.
- Starting with your own work and priorities, then enhancing them with AI, produces better results than starting with AI capabilities and retrofitting your workflow around them.
See also
How can internal communicators practically capture and synthesize organizational insights using AI?
Amanda uses a personal Slack channel where she captures ideas, voice notes, videos, forwarded emails, and files throughout her day. She then synthesizes these inputs to build a clearer understanding of organizational patterns and themes.
Does AI need to lead data analysis work, or does the user need clarity on desired outcomes first?
You absolutely need to know what you want to get out of it and have a strong point of view. While there is merit in exploring what AI tools can reveal, starting with your own intuition and questions produces better, more actionable results.
What is a concrete strategic use case for AI in internal communications?
Amanda used AI to analyze feedback from Science Based Targets Initiative's first all-staff off-site in years held in Amsterdam. She combined overwhelmingly positive quantitative data with sentiment analysis to identify where the real opportunities for connection and communication lay.