4 Simple Yet Impactful Ways to Use AI at Work in 2026

OpenAI’s 2025 The State of Enterprise AI report offers a useful snapshot of how people actually used AI at work throughout the biggest adoption year to date.

The report draws on real usage data across more than a million business customers. This makes it especially helpful for understanding patterns and predicting meaningful usage potential for people beginning to adopt this tech.

A few themes stand out.

1. First, it’s becoming habitual. Employees are returning to AI week after week for productive work that supports their roles, as opposed to just using it for drafting emails.

2. Second, many users report saving close to an hour a day, and a significant number say AI supports them in researching and completing tasks they previously considered too difficult.

Taken together, this points to a measurable shift in how work gets done.

In the beginning of the year, we all knew AI sped up the writing process. As the year winds down, now we have real data that proves AI actually supports better work product.

And when you look closely at how exactly AI support these outcomes, the most impactful uses are often straightforward and repeatable. Simple yet impactful. The kind of thing any individual contributor or small business owner (like myself) can implement.

As we move into 2026, here are four ways professionals can use AI effectively, without needing to be deeply technical or constantly trying new tools.

1. Use AI to Clarify Thinking

Instead of relying on AI to produce finalized work, many teams find that prompting it to help with logic and reasoning supports the organization of their own thoughts. For example, you might ask AI to:

• Translate complex options into plain language
• Summarize talking points before a meeting
• Identify blind spots in proposal language

Here’s how this looks in action if you’re a salesperson:

Before a client meeting, a salesperson can enter background information about the account, the product being discussed, the goal of the conversation and any additional context. They can ask AI to outline likely priorities for that type of buyer, possible objections, competitor profiles, and a logical flow for the discussion.

The output is not a script (though it could be). Ideally, it’s helping the salesperson create a structured way to think through the conversation and prepare for every scenario.

Used this way, AI supports stronger interactions that build confidence even in the most tenured salespeople.

2. Use AI for Early Stage Drafting (Not Just Emails)

AI is fantastic at taking an idea or brief concept and turning it into a first draft that you then refine. In practice this looks like:

• Creating an agenda for a client meeting
• Generating comparison tables
• Iterating proposals or reports using your rough outline on the key points

The goal is to stop starting with a blank page.

AI is particularly helpful early in the decision-making process, when the challenge is understanding options and tradeoffs rather than producing finished work.

Here’s how this looks in action if you’re a small business owner:

Let’s say you’re deciding whether to hire an outside vendor or handle a capability yourself. You can use AI to outline cost considerations, time commitments, and risks for each option. Then, ask it to compare common vendor pricing models, estimate internal staffing or time requirements, and surface questions you’d ask before making a commitment.

From there, AI can build a comparison table showing projected costs, effort, and potential long-term implications. The final decision remains human-led, but it’s grounded in a clear, structured view of the options that didn’t take weeks to manually research and build in excel.

3. Use AI to Reduce Routine Friction

Tasks that are repetitive or take mental energy but don’t require deep expertise are ideal for consistent AI use. Professionals are using it for:

• Summarizing long documents or meeting transcripts

• Rewriting internal messages for clearer tone

• Extracting key insights from data or text

Many platforms already offer AI-generated summaries and transcripts, which are useful. For coordination-focused roles, the greater value often comes from identifying patterns over time.

Here’s how this looks in action if you’re an executive assistant:

After receiving a stream of emails, Teams messages, or notes related to a project, an executive assistant can use AI to consolidate that information into a short, structured summary. This might include key decisions, open questions, and next steps, written in the executive’s preferred tone.

That summary can then be reused across follow-ups and other internal communication, eventually reducing back-and-forth messaging. Instead of manually rewriting the same information multiple times, the assistant can start from a template and prompt AI to adjust as needed.

In this case, AI supports clarity and consistency, which are central to keeping work moving smoothly.

4. Use AI Consistently Across Familiar Workflows

One of the most telling patterns in the usage data is that consistency matters more than sophistication. Professionals who see the most value tend to rely on a small set of repeatable uses as opposed to trying to reinvent their job with automation. In other words: basic is best.

Here’s how this looks in action if you manage the finances:

Someone responsible for budgets or financial oversight uploads monthly reports or expense summaries and prompts AI to highlight trends, anomalies, or areas that warrant closer review. The same prompt is used each month as a starting point before deeper analysis.

Over time, this becomes a natural part of the review process. The value comes from regular, intentional use that supports better decisions.

Looking Ahead in 2026

Prior to having this report featuring actual usage data, there was a common misconception that using AI well meant offloading huge portions of work onto AI agents. Many companies invested heavily with that exact goal in mind, only to realize there is a sizable learning curve for such advanced uses.

What the data shows right now is that using AI well means simply integrating it into existing workflows. For now, the real value comes from creating a partnership between human judgment and higher-quality creative and analytical output.

The key takeaway is focusing on simplicity. Start by identifying the tasks you repeat most often, then consider which parts of those tasks can be simplified. Ask yourself and your teams: what is a simple yet impactful way AI can support this process and help produce a better outcome?

This is how I structure my work when developing training for clients. I’ve led workshops and speaking engagements for organizations such as The Ritz-Carlton, HUB International, Planet Fitness, and others. If you’re looking for practical, grounded ways to incorporate AI into everyday work in 2026, you’re welcome to contact me here.