While generative AI (GenAI) is being deployed by 72% of supply chain organizations, most are experiencing mixed results for productivity and ROI, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
For individual, desk-based workers productivity gains are not translating to greater team-level productivity. And the deployment of GenAI tools is increasing anxiety among many employees, which is decreasing their productivity.
Gartner’s data showed an increase in productivity from GenAI for desk-based workers, with GenAI tools saving 4.11 hours of time weekly for these employees. The time saved also correlated to increased output and higher quality work. However, these gains decreased when assessing team-level productivity. The amount of time saved declined to 1.5 hours per team member weekly, and there was no correlation to either improved output or higher quality of work.
"Early GenAI deployments within supply chain reveal a productivity paradox," said Sam Berndt, senior director in Gartner’s supply chain practice, in a statement. "While its use has enhanced individual productivity for desk-based roles, these gains are not cascading through the rest of the function and are actually making the overall working environment worse for many employees. CSCOs need to retool their deployment strategies to address these negative outcomes.”
Therefore companies deploying GenAI need to move from looking solely at efficiency in order to increase productivity and must do a number of things including better incorporate frontline workers, assuage growing employee anxieties from the use of GenAI tools and focus on use-cases that promote creativity and innovation, rather than only on saving time.
The deployment of GenAI in supply chain has brought with it several additional negative organizational impacts, including:
- Frontline workers have failed to make similar productivity gains as their desk-based counterparts, despite recording a similar amount of time savings from the use of GenAI tools.
- Employees report higher levels of anxiety as they are exposed to a growing number of GenAI tools at work, with the average supply chain employee now utilizing 3.6 GenAI tools on average.
- Higher anxiety among employees correlates to lower levels of overall productivity.
Shifting from Individual Efficiency to Aligned Organizational Productivity
Gartner recommends shifting from a focus on individual productivity gains to an aligned organizational productivity approach. This approach prioritizes creativity-based use cases that enhance strategic thinking and innovation across the entire workforce, including frontline workers. These use-cases encourage employees to utilize GenAI tools to approach their strategic tasks more thoughtfully, with an emphasis on those that incorporate interactions with direct peers and colleagues.
To achieve aligned organizational productivity, CSCOs need to rethink their GenAI strategy in three key areas:
- Use cases: By encouraging creativity-based GenAI use cases, supply chain teams can unlock a host of benefits beyond mere time savings. This includes better overall productivity (accomplishing tasks better, not just faster) and the ability to identify a broader set of use cases beyond a focus on time-savings.
- Talent strategy: Employee upskilling must move beyond the use of GenAI tools in isolation. Employees need guidance on how to deliver on their new strategic tasks and make use of the time they are saving from the use GenAI tools.
- Management approach: Shift focus from measuring automation to measuring innovation. Metrics of concern should align to how GenAI is being applied to high-value tasks, new tasks created from GenAI and an orientation towards GenAI as a job creator, rather than eliminator.
