When artificial intelligence (AI) first entered the mainstream, some employees felt concerned, and even outright threatened, by the new technology. But with a closer look, the workplace started to demonstrate a more favorable view of AI, and it's now an integral part of many business strategies today.

Many other tasks, though, are still done the old-fashioned way: by hand. Gathering new employee and contractor information is generally a manual process, powered by pen and paper. The same manual data collection and input is used with different HR contractor management systems, which are plagued by another set of problems: data that is rigidly siloed. These systems are often disconnected from each other, isolated and unintegrated. In this environment, data fails to provide a complete picture.

As companies begin to recognize the significance of AI and its potential, organizing your data in a way that makes it manageable and accessible is increasingly important. In a world where decisions are required faster than ever, I believe that being data-savvy is crucial. Consider, for example, a busy workplace that requires everything from training certifications to contractor insurances and other licenses. New ones are earned, some expire and others need renewal. Keeping tabs the old-fashioned way doesn't facilitate the priority of planning, managing and executing work in real time in order to deliver value and drive revenue.

Let's start with the obvious: Compared to humans, AI is far better equipped to analyze enormous amounts of data and correlate it with different reference points. My company offers an AI tool to help companies organize and verify their data, so I've seen the benefits of this firsthand. For me, implementing AI tools is about impacting the workplace as a creative environment. It's not just that AI allows the automation of manual labor that was previously deemed too complex for a machine to handle; it's about taking care of tedious, repetitive tasks across the entire company so that the workforce has more freedom to exercise creativity and do more impactful work.