AI Field Notes – Issue No. 2

AI Isn’t Just Coming for Search. It’s Coming for Teamwork.

By Len Ward | Commexis

April 6, 2025

This week’s signal: Business leaders are underestimating the shift—not just in how people search, but in how teams think, collaborate, and solve problems with AI.

This Week’s Observation

Search volume is up. Click-throughs are not. Why?

Everyone saw the headline: Google search traffic is rising.

But what no one’s talking about? The click-throughs are quietly collapsing.

That’s because AI—especially AI search models and assistants—aren’t gateways to websites.

They’re endpoints.

The content still matters—but the destination has changed.

So while your site may still rank, it might not receive traffic. The value is in how well your data, content, and answers are structured to be consumed by machines, not just humans.

AI as a Teammate, Not Just a Tool

This leads into a second, deeper shift—a study that caught my eye this week.

Researchers at Harvard and Procter & Gamble ran a large-scale experiment:

776 professionals. Real business units. Real tasks.

Teams were asked to develop product ideas, strategies, and packaging solutions—with and without AI.

The results?

One individual using AI performed just as well as a two-person team without it.

Teams using AI performed best overall.

And across the board, AI made people work faster, smarter, and feel better.

Even more powerful:

AI helped people cross boundaries of expertise.

Commercial and technical specialists started thinking beyond their domains.

Inexperienced team members performed like seasoned veterans.

What This Means for Business

If you’re a leader, this changes everything.

We’ve been focused on AI as an individual productivity tool—something to speed up solo work.

But now? We need to rethink how teams are structured.

AI is no longer just supporting the work.

It’s starting to do the work.

More importantly, it’s collaborating with your team.

This means:

• Redesigning roles around AI teammates
• Reorganizing how knowledge flows between functions
• Training teams to work with AI, not just next to it
• Measuring team output differently—speed, balance, collaboration

If AI can think like a team member, your org chart needs to evolve.

Why It All Ties Together

What happens when:

• Search doesn’t lead to your website?
• AI becomes the first—and final—touchpoint?
• AI joins your team, not just your toolstack?

You need to prepare for:

• AI-first customer experiences (search → chatbot → sale)
• AI-integrated internal workflows (GPT teammates for marketing, sales, ops)

AI-aligned team training (prompting, evaluating, collaborating)

Quote to Remember

“AI isn’t coming for your job. It’s coming for your workflows, your team structure, and your thinking models.”

Want AI Field Notes emailed to you weekly?

We’re rolling out delivery soon—subscribe or visit the Commexis blog every Saturday for the signal that matters.