Businesses are investing heavily in AI to make individuals more productive. But software is built by teams, and I’ve started to wonder whether we’re overlooking another kind of AI efficiency: what it could help us do for the people we work with. Over the last two years, I've experimented with generative AI in real product and engineering teams - supporting career development, recognising overlooked contributions, making team budgets work harder and creating experiences I simply wouldn't have had time to design before. Some worked brilliantly... others really didn't!

At the same time, as AI becomes associated with doing more with fewer people, trust can suffer. People are asking for more connection, recognition and a sense of being valued. I’ll share what worked, what went wrong, and practical ways to use AI for recognition, development and team connection while knowing when human judgement still matters. If AI helps us get the work done, perhaps we can use some of what it gives us back to make work better too.