The year was 1996 and the world was buzzing with a revolutionary new technology that promised to change not only the world, but work forever. It was the modern age of the internet as we know it, and it gave birth to a new era of workplace communication in the form of email.
A generation later, AI is making similar promises. But before we fully embrace this next revolution, it’s worth looking back. The lessons we didn’t learn with email are resurfacing, and this time, the stakes are even higher.
Let’s revisit a few of the bold promises email made to better understand what actually happened.
Promise: Communication will get better.
Reality: Communication got faster, but not always clearer.
Email promised to dramatically speed up workplace correspondence, replacing the delays of memos, postal mail, and even phone tag. While email enabled more contact, it often lacked the nuance of in-person or phone conversations and was prone to misinterpretation due to the lack of nonverbal cues. So in effect we traded efficiency (speed) for efficacy (understanding), and in the process created an entirely new workstream to manage.
Promise: Productivity will increase.
Reality: We created more work, not less.
Email was meant to streamline collaboration, instead, it exploded our workloads. Messages piled up faster than we could process them. A 2016 HBR study found that workers spend 28% of their time on email, and most would say it’s not their most valuable work. Rather than freeing us, it tethered us.
Research has also found that email notifications contributes to task-switching and reduced deep focus, both things that reduce overall productivity in the long run.
Promise: It will democratize the workplace.
Reality: Email reinforced existing hierarchies.
Email gave everyone access, but not equal voice. Power users dominated threads. Leaders got gatekeepers. “Direct access” became filtered through assistants, rules, and auto-replies. Instead of flattening organizations, email often mirrored the same structures it promised to disrupt.
So, what does this all mean for us today as we approach our own generational change in the workplace?
Like email, AI has the potential to reshape how we work with faster decisions, personalized insights, smarter systems. But if we’re not intentional, we risk repeating the same mistakes: more complexity, more inequity, more noise.
Let’s be better this time.
As managers and leaders, we have a responsibility to prepare for AI not just as a tool, but as a transformation. That means asking better questions, setting clearer boundaries, and centering people, not just productivity.
We’re shaping the future of work. Let’s just make sure we’re building workplaces worthy of the future.
Ready to prepare your managers to lead with this emerging technology? Grab a time here.
