AI is here, and it’s fundamentally changing the way we work. So why are companies having trouble making use of it?
Notion recently surveyed 1,000 professionals tasked with investing in productivity tools, including knowledge and project management software. One thing was clear: AI is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s now a core driver of how organizations manage work, where they structure information, and why they adopt new tooling.
From startups to global enterprises, organizations struggle to unlock AI’s true potential. Our research shows that integrating AI into existing systems remains the single most challenging issue for decision-makers in the past year.
It’s a familiar struggle—even with powerful AI capabilities on the market, teams still find themselves dealing with the same frustrations: jumping between tools to find documents, searching for information in disconnected systems, and manually connecting disparate workflows. This tool fragmentation and forced context-switching isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a liability that limits productivity.
AI has long been touted as the answer to these challenges, and while that promise is undeniable, decision-makers are still looking for solutions. The future of AI at work depends not just on its capabilities, but on how well these tools integrate, build trust, and scale across organizations.
In our research, three major pain points emerged:
Despite these challenges, organizations still clearly see the potential of AI. Their interest continues to rise, reshaping how they approach their software stack. AI capabilities now rank among the top reasons companies explore new tools.
57% of decision-makers said improving team productivity was their primary motivation, while 44% pointed specifically to AI as a driver for evaluating new platforms.
AI has evolved beyond being a future investment or niche feature—it’s now become a top-down mandate (Shopify’s here). Leaders are seeking practical, integrated solutions that help teams work faster, maintain focus, and reduce daily friction.
Organizations need tools that can help them summarize, synthesize, and search through information more efficiently. They want AI to reduce their cognitive burden, not create additional complexity.