There have been countless promises about AI’s ability to revolutionize everything: operational efficiency, customer interactions, decision-making, and even creativity. Yet, for many companies, the results they’ve realized to date have been minimal at best and a major source of frustration at worst. Why? Because the promise of AI is misunderstood. AI isn’t a magical fix; it’s a learning, adapting capability closer to a curious new hire than a cold piece of tech. The secret to unlocking AI’s full potential lies in shifting your perspective – treat AI not as a tool to wield but as a teammate to collaborate with, shaping a future where human-AI partnership is the ultimate competitive advantage.

# Key Takeaways

What you’ll learn:

  • Why shifting your mindset about AI is critical.
  • The tangible benefits of treating AI as a teammate
  • Six practical steps to integrate AI into your teams effectively.

# From Tools to Teammates: Shifting the AI Paradigm

Most organizations today assess AI with a technology-centric mindset, applying conventional business cases, ROI assessments, and expectations designed for software tools. This approach often results in unmet expectations and a lack of alignment between what AI can do and how teams should utilize it. 

However, AI is distinct from traditional technology platforms. It shares more characteristics with human workers than software systems. It learns from data, adapts, and makes decisions – traits more aligned with human abilities than the repetitive functions of typical software tools. 

Organizations that continue to treat AI as just another tool will miss its transformative potential. Instead, reimagining AI as an adaptable, evolving team member can significantly enhance team performance and outcomes.

Related Content: AI Alignment: Four Strategic Considerations to Maximize Business Value in 2025

# The Future of Work: Integrating AI as a True Teammate

Imagine onboarding a new college graduate into your company. They’re intelligent, full of potential, and eager to contribute but need guidance and feedback to excel. This is how organizations should think about AI. Like a new hire, AI needs time to adapt, learn company norms, and refine its outputs through ongoing interaction with human team members. 

Treating AI as a teammate involves integrating it into team structures and workflows and establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This approach clarifies what AI is accountable for and fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement, establishing a collaborative environment where AI not only supports but also amplifies the effectiveness of human colleagues.

Similar to what you likely do now when you add a new role to your team, setting your AI teammate up for success starts with crafting a clear job description for its new role.

# Creating a Job Description for AI Roles in Your Team

For AI to be seamlessly woven into team dynamics, its role must be as concrete as its human counterparts. Creating a job description for AI sets the foundation for integration and effective collaboration. This includes: 

  • Organization Mission, Vision, and Values: Define how AI’s role aligns with the company’s goals and values. This provides context for AI’s contributions to broader strategic objectives, reinforcing a shared understanding of its purpose.
  • Specific Responsibilities and Tasks: Outline the specific activities AI is responsible for, ensuring these tasks complement team and organizational goals. 
  • Interaction and Expectations: Clarify what AI can expect from human team members and vice versa. This helps set realistic expectations, reducing misunderstandings about AI’s capabilities and limitations. 
  • Success Metrics: Define how the performance of AI will be evaluated by establishing key performance indicators for AI, similar to any team member, at both organizational and individual levels.

This practice sets the stage for clearer accountability and smoother collaboration. Just as teams align to achieve common goals, incorporating AI as a defined entity ensures it contributes effectively and continues to improve over time. 

# Building Operating Norms for Human-AI Collaboration 

For AI to function effectively as a team member, organizations must define clear operating norms for human-AI collaboration. These norms should detail how AI and human teammates communicate, collaborate, and support each other. Consider developing and documenting agreed-upon operating norms in areas like:

  • Feedback and Learning Cycles: Regularly scheduled reviews where human team members review AI outputs and offer feedback, guiding the AI to learn and adjust.
  • Defined Workflow Integration: Incorporating AI into areas where its strengths (e.g., data analysis, rapid synthesis) amplify team efforts, while humans add value through tasks requiring creativity, emotional intelligence, and complex judgment.
  • Collaborative Problem Solving: Treating AI as a contributor during brainstorming and planning meetings, where AI serves as an information synthesizer or alternate viewpoint provider, revealing overlooked opportunities.

Creating these norms lowers friction and encourages a more fluid team dynamic where AI’s contributions are as valued as those of human team members. This structured collaboration ensures AI becomes a dependable, integrated part of the team, contributing insights that might be overlooked in traditional human-only dynamics. With clear operating norms in place, teams can better evaluate how AI’s contributions enhance performance, productivity, and collaboration. Measuring this impact requires rethinking ROI to align with this mindset shift.

# Shifting ROI Assessments: From Technology to Teammate 

Traditional technology ROI is calculated based on cost savings, efficiencies, or revenue generation within a fixed period. However, when AI is viewed as a teammate, ROI assessments shift to resemble those used for human roles. The true value comes from how AI contributes to:

  • Enhanced Team Impact: Measuring how AI’s input boosts the output of human colleagues and how well it collaborates to achieve shared objectives.
  • Ongoing Improvement: Tracking how AI learns from human feedback and refines its output.
  • Overall Contribution: Evaluating AI’s role in strategic achievements, such as providing insights or automating complex decision-making processes that amplify human efforts and assessing the quality of those contributions.

This human-centric ROI approach emphasizes ongoing value creation rather than initial setup costs or immediate gains. It acknowledges that, like a person, AI’s potential to contribute deepens as it learns and integrates more seamlessly into team activities. 

# The Benefits of Embracing AI as a Teammate 


Improved Productivity and Team Morale 

Workers who view AI as a teammate are 33% more likely to report productivity gains than those who see it merely as a tool, according to Asana’s State of AI at Work 2024 report. When viewed as a collaborator, AI becomes a tool that empowers teams rather than a cold, impersonal technology. Employees are more productive when they can rely on AI to handle repetitive or data-heavy tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic, higher-value activities and creative endeavors.

Workers who see AI as a teammate rather than a tool are 33% more likely to report increased productivity from using AI at work.”

The State of AI at Work 2024 Research Report

Reduced Friction and Clear Expectations

When AI’s responsibilities and limitations are outlined, team members know what to reasonably expect, avoiding the disillusionment and frustration that comes when AI fails to meet misunderstood expectations. This clarity reduces friction and fosters an environment of realistic, effective use of AI. 

Investing in AI Development to Increase Value Creation 

When AI is nurtured and invested in like a human team member, it becomes more adept at supporting complex tasks and evolves alongside business needs. This dynamic approach ensures that the AI adds ongoing value and augments team efforts meaningfully.

# Action Plan: Six Steps to Integrate AI as a Team Member

To pivot from a technology-centric to a teammate-centric view of AI, businesses should follow these steps: 

  1. Assess Overall Team Responsibilities: Identify all activities and tasks owned by a functional area or team.
  2. Segment Responsibilities into Human and AI Roles: Determine which activities and tasks would most effectively be completed by humans and which would be best executed by AI.
  3. Create New Job Descriptions for All Human and AI Roles: Group similar activities and tasks into formal job descriptions for both human and AI roles, detailing the interaction model and expectations between human and AI colleagues and establishing individual and shared success metrics.
  4. Train Teams on Human-AI Collaboration: Equip human team members with skills, knowledge, and practices to collaborate effectively with AI, understanding how to leverage AI’s strengths. 
  5. Implement Feedback Mechanisms: Build feedback structures that enable AI to learn and improve continuously.
  6. Measure and Adapt: Continuously monitor AI’s contributions and adjust its role as needed to increase overall team effectiveness and ensure alignment with organizational goals.


Related Content: For CEO Magazine: 5 Steps to Kick-Start an Enterprise Transformation

# The Future of Work with AI: Realizing AI’s Full Potential 

Organizations that shift their perception of AI from merely a tool to an integral team member will experience significant improvements in productivity, innovation, and team cohesion. By treating AI as a valued teammate, it transforms from a passive utility into an active contributor, unlocking new levels of teamwork and performance.

The future of work is collaborative, requiring organizations to rethink traditional roles and interactions. Companies can achieve greater flexibility, creativity, and resilience by embracing AI as a teammate rather than viewing it as technology. This mindset encourages a symbiotic relationship between humans and AI, where each enhances the other’s capabilities, driving sustainable growth and innovation. 

Ready to Rethink AI?

At Propeller, we specialize in helping companies integrate AI effectively. Let’s discuss how AI can become your next teammate and unlock its full potential for your organization.