Article • 3 min read
3 ways AI bolsters employee productivity and satisfaction
AI isn’t just streamlining workflows—it’s transforming employee experience, boosting efficiency, and unlocking human potential.
Von Mariah Schuknecht, Vice President of People Transformation and Operations, Zendesk
Zuletzt aktualisiert: March 14, 2025
A happier workforce isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for success. Research consistently shows that happy employees are more productive, deliver stronger results, and stay with their organizations longer. For HR leaders, the search for a winning formula to increase happiness and productivity has led to a powerful solution: AI.
At Zendesk, we’ve seen firsthand how AI is transforming the way teams operate, empowering employees to work smarter, save time, and focus on higher-impact work. At the same time, it’s pushed organizations like ours to rethink the tools needed to unlock the full potential of their distributed teams.
Our customers are leading this transformation—and already seeing benefits. With AI handling the bulk of basic employee inquiries, LATAM Airlines’s HR team is seeing game-changing efficiency gains. As a result, they now have more time to dedicate to complex issues, ensuring speedier resolutions and higher team satisfaction.
To better understand how AI is reshaping workforce dynamics around the world, we surveyed senior HR leaders in 13 countries as part of our global CX research. The results are clear: 79% agree that providing employees with AI tools is key to maintaining a competitive edge. As business transformation accelerates, AI is becoming a must-have capability for organizations looking to stay ahead.
Here are three ways AI is enabling higher-quality employee service, helping to drive better productivity and satisfaction in today’s workforce:
1. Delivering a better service experience
AI enables HR teams to set a higher bar for service. Over a third tell us that they’re already using AI to personalize the support they offer employees, making it easier for them to access the resources and help they need.
Empowered employees produce better work—and 72% of HR leaders have seen employee performance rise as they’ve added more AI capabilities. That means we’re inching closer and closer to every HR leaders’ dream, mine included: a simple path to better employee outcomes. In fact, 78% of HR leaders report that AI-enhanced self-service tools have already improved both productivity and job satisfaction.
2. Streamlining employee service workflows to boost efficiency
AI-powered tools are streamlining operations, making it easier for employees to tackle more strategic work. According to our research, 42% of HR leaders have already integrated AI tools into their workflows to enhance efficiency.
By simplifying processes across the board, we’ve seen AI boost productivity and empower better decision-making. Emerging tools such as AI-powered agents ensure a unified agent workspace for all employee requests, regardless of channel, and save time by automating responses for common questions. And 80% of HR leaders agree: equipping employees with AI-copilots makes it easier for them to access the insights needed to make truly data-driven decisions.
3. Unlocking human potential
Beyond the immediate benefits, AI is quickly becoming that not-so-secret ingredient to future organizational success. Not only are AI-powered tools freeing up employees for more strategic work, but in many cases, we’re seeing them uplevel their roles entirely.
An incredible 75% of HR leaders tell us that AI is enabling employees to take on work that was previously impractical due to resource or time constraints. And having access to generative AI is opening the door to enhanced creativity—an essential driver of long-term health for our workforces and our business.
A critical tool in the workplace
It’s hard to argue with what we’re already seeing at Zendesk, with our customers, and with other HR leaders around the world: AI is optimizing workplace operations, improving visibility on areas falling short, and contributing to a happier, more productive workforce.
As AI-powered tools continue to evolve how we work, collaborate, and connect, those who embrace their potential will unlock new levels of efficiency and engagement, setting the standard for better employee and business outcomes going forward.
