November Question of the Month - Join the conversation and receive a badge [+bonus badge!]

Laura ZJ

Smartsheet AI helps me save time with formulas. I know that with trial and error I can figure them out but when the day is very full, time is limited, and people are counting on me, AI saves the time.

Tony Platts

A few years ago, Transport for London made the decision to phase out many Ticket Seller roles, recognising that with the rise of apps and automated machines, this role was becoming obsolete. I couldn’t find much sympathy for the strike that followed, as it highlighted a reality we all face: jobs evolve, and the workforce must adapt.

We owe it to ourselves to regularly evaluate our work and ask, “How much of what I do could be automated?” If the answer is more than 20%, it’s time to upskill or start considering new opportunities.

While my company has no formal AI policy, I’ve incorporated AI into my daily workflow to drive productivity. Initially, I used it to refine emails for consistency and clarity. Once I grew comfortable, I began sending bullet points or a brief outline and letting it draft responses. I even automated my weekly project reports by feeding AI regular updates, resulting in seamless, accurate summaries each week.

My use of AI has grown well beyond these basics, doubling my productivity and enhancing almost every area of my work. For example, I use AI to:

1. Report Writing & Formatting: AI helps me generate structured reports tailored to different audiences—whether internal, external, or executive summaries—saving me significant time while ensuring stakeholders receive updates in the format they need.
2. Creating and Optimising SOPs: I use AI to develop templates for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which clarify critical processes and improve accessibility for the team.
3. Creating and Updating Formulas in Excel and Smartsheet: AI has been invaluable for building complex formulas in Excel and Smartsheet, like VLOOKUPs or nested IF statements. If you’ve ever struggled with these, AI can handle them efficiently.
4. Enhancing Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: AI assists with creating Confluence instructions and other internal documentation, making knowledge sharing more consistent and effective.
5. Feedback & Review of Communications: Beyond basic grammar checks, AI reviews the tone and professionalism of my communications, adjusting for the formality level needed for different team members or clients.
6. Scenario-Based Problem Solving: For complex project scenarios, AI is an excellent tool for brainstorming solutions and refining strategies. It has helped me navigate challenging interpersonal or project management issues by providing well-structured communication options.
7. Answering ‘Question of the Month’ and Other Recurring Tasks: For tasks like answering the “Question of the Month,” I input basic details, let AI build on it by incorporating relevant usage examples, and then format the final post.

Incorporating AI has been transformative, allowing me to focus more on strategic work and less on routine tasks. It’s given me a competitive edge in managing projects and team communications effectively, setting a standard I can rely on as I adapt to the changing workforce landscape.

joelsmit94161

I use AI quite a bit when it comes to the newsletter that I create(not to create content). Our newsletter items come from stakeholders and I edit those stories for length and clarity(manually). Once i finish my edit, I let Grammarly take a look, Whatever Grammarly won't correct (unless I pay for it), I go to another AI source like Chat GPT that will find and correct any issues. After the stories are edited we need to post them on our website. I post the entirety of the content in the body of the blog page. Then I rely on AI to write a one sentence teaser for the story, that goes in in a teaser field.

Often, I have to reorganize the content we are given(split long paragraphs for easier reading, bolding headers, bulleting items, etc.) so I put the content in a markdown editor. Once I am done reorganizing the content. I use AI to convert my markdown file into a useable format for the web page.

nastasyaclark

It seems, on social media, like people are able to do such cool things with AI and produce increasingly intriguing and innovative results with it. Though I think some (many?) AI products over-promise and under-deliver, I look forward to an upward trajectory of the technology and can see how effective it could be in being a convenient and time-saving tool - yes a tool, not an individual contributor or creator.

In my personal experience when using AI, however, I've had little success with being able to use anything it produces at face-value. Obviously it's just complex algorithms that are doing their best so validation and QA are intrinsic to the process, but I've never found that it has simultaneously saved me a lot of time while being accurate. I have almost always needed to make numerous corrections or not been able to use the results, entirely. I admit that this is likely entirely on me for not using the correct prompts and not asking the right questions! I feel like I need to take a class on it to really be able to use it to its fullest potential, at least to compare with what it seems others are able to achieve with it.

In the short term, I'm most looking forward to my company potentially utilizing AI to record and transcript meetings to capture summaries and action items. I've heard, in beta testing, that it is not fully accurate and the meeting holders are unable to send the AI-generated summaries in their raw state (shocker) but I do look forward to having something that can record faster than my furious little fingers on the keyboard can so I can have something to supplement my own notes.

MedaUser

BIG SHOUTOUT to AI for helping me rewrite passive-aggressive emails while frustrated! Project Managers out there know what I'm talking about. 😏 To have had AI for this reason alone in my 20s, I may have become CEO or President by now! lol. 😜

Bligh

Been using AI to help with learning general information or solutions. When things get too complex I find it gets confused and loses context. Great for simple, bulk starting points though that can be edited to be more nuanced.

Ric T

Loving the AI formula build. It helps with onboarding new Smartsheet users who are new to the formula syntax game, and a great way to validate formulas after attempting to build one from scratch. What could be game changer is a way to preview recommended charts and figures depending on the type of columns selected, and having a PowerBI connector standard on what could the potential charts look like built outside of Smartsheet, but still displayed on a Smartsheet dashboard.

SDURKEE

AI has been a fantastic tool to maximize my productivity - I use it to clean up content that I create (spelling, grammar, streamlined, clarity); for help when I am stuck on a Smartsheet formula, to generate ideas when I am brainstorming, to help create quizzes when I am creating training products, and for….MATH. (I'm a words person, not a numbers person) :)😂

VictoriaD

I primarily use AI for formulas. This has helped me get started- although i usually need to make adjustments.

AI has been very exciting for others who I have been introducing Smartsheets to for analysis.

I am excited to continue seeing how AI will improve interaction on Smartsheet

WillyB

I think adopting AI will be smoothest if we maintain AI as a copilot and not the pilot. I do not believe society as a whole is ready to give over the keys to AI, but most do see the benefit without excessive fear mongering.

LeiLeni Parks

AI has helped me work smarter whenever I have needed to explain common processes. I recently needed to create documentation and without AI assistance it would have taken forever. Thanks to AI, I was able to complete the process in minutes.

kelceyg

My favorite ways to leverage AI is to:

1. Summarize meeting transcripts - I feel I am able to be more present in meetings when I don't have to worry about taking accurate notes.
2. When I am on an IT project and my IT SMEs talk tech, I will use AI to explain what they said to me like I'm five.. ha!
3. When I'm struggling to put my thoughts to paper (email), I will use AI to revise my sentences for clarity and conciseness.

On the Smartsheet front, I do like to use the AI tool for help with my formulas, although I do think it's only about 80% successful. But the other 20%, it does usually point me in the right direction. I wish it could create column formulas and cross sheet formulas!

Darla Brown

Besides helping me be a better writer, I haven't used AI much except for the formula tool. I'm certain once I dive in, I will kick myself for not starting sooner. 😂

mcullen

AI has transformed the way I work by making tasks smarter, not harder. Initially, I was skeptical about the role of AI, but I’ve since realized how much it enhances my productivity. From automating repetitive tasks like scheduling and data sorting to providing deep insights that help me make data-driven decisions, AI has freed up time for more strategic and creative work. It’s not about replacing human effort but amplifying it—allowing me to focus on high-level problem-solving, creativity, and deep work.

AI also helps me work more efficiently with personalized assistance, boosting collaboration, and improving communication. Whether it’s streamlining reports, enhancing brainstorming, or ensuring accuracy in my work, AI reduces errors and increases my focus. As my workload grows, AI scales with me, allowing me to manage more projects without feeling overwhelmed. In short, AI isn’t just a tool for the future—it’s a powerful partner that makes my work smarter, more creative, and more efficient today.

Jarom Ward

We love AI in our organization. I think that people tend to fear change as it could negatively impact their life. This makes so much sense as we are taught to be skeptical. We have taken the approach to view it for what it is, which is a tool to make our lives easier. This is the same mentality that we use for Smartsheet. It provides a way for us to take the manual parts of our work and automate it. This allows us to focus on the important parts! Before I would toil with formulas, fixing breaks, and looking for new ways to compile data. AI has helped take some of the stress out of formulas by giving me new ways to fix/approach a problem, so I can move on to the big picture issues.