AI can make work more meaningful

As a CEO operating within the global supply chain—where every purchase is tied to efforts to end forced and child labor—I think often about what work is for: not just making it faster, but making it matter. That’s what makes the latest Gallup findings on AI so striking. The headline insight isn’t productivity. It’s something more revealing: We’re becoming more efficient, but not more engaged. Employees say AI is making them more productive, yet global employee engagement has declined for two consecutive years, now sitting at just 20%. We’re optimizing how work gets done, but for many people, we’re eroding the experience of doing it. That gap is a failure of intention, while many mistakenly think it’s related to technology. AI GIVES BACK TIME AI is reshaping how work happens, reducing friction across writing, analysis, operations, and decision-making. In our own business, we look for people who lean into AI. It signals curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to evolve. We’re equally deliberate about how we use it. AI helps automate repetitive tasks, streamline workflows, and surface better information. It saves time, reduces cost, and creates capacity that didn’t exist before. EFFICIENCIES GIVE YOU A CHOICE AI unlocks speed as well as a choice. And that choice is where strategy lives. Leaders often treat productivity as the goal, though actually it’s a byproduct. The real question is what productivity enables. Without a clear answer, efficiency gains get absorbed into more output, tasks, and noise. When those gains are intentionally redirected, something different happens. Teams have more space to think, connect, and focus on the work that differentiates a business. Over time, that shift compounds in performance, as well as in how people experience their work. YOU CAN’T AUTOMATE MEANING I saw this firsthand while visiting one of our women-led coffee partners in Ethiopia. Coffee is one of the most widely traded commodities in the world, yet the people behind it are