New research reveals that how you work with AI matters just as much as whether you use it at all

A fascinating new report from Atlassian has uncovered something we've been observing in our work with growing businesses: there's a world of difference between simply using AI and truly collaborating with it. And that difference? It's transforming how productive teams can be.

The Two Types of AI Users

In a survey of 5,000 knowledge workers, Atlassian identified two distinct groups:

Simple AI Users (59%) – These folks view AI primarily as an automation tool. Think of it as a faster calculator or a spell-checker on steroids. Useful, certainly, but limited in scope.

Strategic AI Collaborators (33%) – This group approaches AI differently. They see it as a creative partner or even an entire team with a range of specialised skills at their disposal. They're having conversations with AI, iterating on ideas, and leveraging it across multiple dimensions of their work.

There was also a third category: the 8% who declared AI "useless in the workplace." They were promptly excluded from the rest of the analysis... a sign of things to come, perhaps? 😆

The Results Speak for Themselves

The differences between these two approaches are striking:

• Time savings: Simple AI users save 53 minutes per day. Strategic AI collaborators? They're saving 105 minutes daily – nearly double.
• Learning investment confidence: 59% of Simple AI users believe their time spent learning to work with AI pays off. Among Strategic AI Collaborators, that figure jumps to a resounding 94%.
• Quality improvements: 54% of Simple AI users report that AI has improved the quality of their work, compared to 85% of Strategic AI collaborators.

What This Means for Your Business

These aren't just interesting statistics – they represent a fundamental shift in how we need to think about AI adoption in the workplace.

The gap between simple usage and strategic collaboration isn't just about understanding more features or spending more time with AI tools. It's about a mindset shift. Strategic collaborators have moved beyond asking "What can AI do for me?" to asking "How can AI and I work together to achieve something neither of us could alone?"

Moving from Automation to Collaboration

Here's what we're seeing make the difference:

Treating AI as a thought partner – Rather than just delegating simple tasks, strategic users engage AI in brainstorming, problem-solving, and ideation. They're having back-and-forth conversations, refining ideas iteratively.

Leveraging specialised capabilities – Just as you wouldn't ask your accountant to design your website, strategic collaborators understand that different AI tools (or different prompting approaches) excel at different tasks. They're building a "virtual team" of AI capabilities.

Investing in the relationship – Like any collaboration, working effectively with AI requires time and practice. Strategic collaborators view this as an investment, not an inconvenience.

Focusing on augmentation, not replacement – The goal isn't to have AI do your job, but to free you up to do the parts of your job that truly require human insight, creativity, and relationship-building.

Getting Your Team into the Strategic Category

So how do we help more people become Strategic AI Collaborators? The Atlassian report offers some excellent insights, but here are a few approaches we've found particularly effective:

1. Provide the right tools – Not all AI solutions are created equal. Look for platforms that encourage dialogue and iteration, not just one-off tasks.
2. Create a learning culture – When 94% of strategic users believe their learning investment pays off, it's clear that organisations need to support ongoing AI education and experimentation.
3. Share success stories – When team members see colleagues achieving remarkable results through AI collaboration, it inspires them to explore beyond basic automation.
4. Start with real problems – Rather than generic "AI training," help your team apply AI to actual challenges they're facing. The learning sticks when it's immediately useful.

The Bottom Line

The businesses that will thrive in the AI era won't necessarily be those that adopt it first – they'll be the ones that learn to collaborate with it most effectively. The difference between saving 53 minutes and saving 105 minutes per day, per person, compounds rapidly across a team. More importantly, the quality improvements and creative breakthroughs that come from true AI collaboration can't be measured in minutes alone.

We're still early in this journey, and the gap between simple users and strategic collaborators represents a massive opportunity. The question isn't whether your team should use AI – it's whether they're ready to truly work with it.

Want to learn more about how strategic AI collaboration can transform your team's productivity? The full Atlassian report is well worth your time: www.atlassian.com/blog/productivity/ai-collaboration-report

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