An expert says HR teams should work with business leaders to review workloads, set realistic expectations and prioritise quality over quantity.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is giving employees new ways to work more efficiently. But for many professionals in the UAE, the time saved is not necessarily resulting in a lighter workload.
While 76 per cent of employees in the UAE say they are excited about how AI will transform their work, compared with 65 per cent globally, and 72 per cent report having more opportunities to innovate than a year ago, expectations around productivity continue to rise.
According to the Korn Ferry UAE Workforce Report 2026, based on the views of 500 professionals in the country, 70 per cent of employees say their workload has increased significantly over the past two years.
The findings point to a growing workplace dilemma. As AI automates repetitive tasks and opens up new opportunities for innovation, are employees benefiting from the efficiency gains, or simply being expected to take on more work?
Nageeba Suleman Aboobacker, senior manager, People and Culture at Hotpack, said organisations must ensure that adopting AI does not automatically lead to additional responsibilities for employees.
“AI can make work easier by handling repetitive, time-consuming tasks, allowing employees to focus on meaningful work, problem-solving and better decisions. However, time saved should not automatically mean additional responsibilities. Organisations must balance efficiency with employee wellbeing.”
She said HR teams should work closely with business leaders to review workloads, set realistic expectations and assess the quality of work rather than focusing solely on output.
Managers also need training to allocate tasks appropriately and evaluate performance fairly as AI reshapes job responsibilities. Employees, meanwhile, must understand how to use the technology responsibly, particularly when handling confidential data and sensitive information.
“Regular feedback helps HR identify whether technology is reducing pressure or adding to it. Ultimately, AI should improve how people work, not simply how much they work,” Aboobacker said.
Are employees being asked to do more?
Aws Ismail, co-founder of Onyx AI Solutions, believes the problem often lies not with the technology itself, but with how companies manage the time it saves.
“Honestly, many companies are simply filling the time saved by AI with more work. That’s a management problem, not an AI problem. If you save someone two hours and then give them two hours of additional tasks, nothing has really improved.”
He said organisations should use AI to take over tedious, repetitive responsibilities, allowing employees to focus on tasks that require human interaction, judgement and decision-making.
At Onyx, for example, the company’s AI recruiter handles initial screening calls, giving recruiters more time to engage with stakeholders and candidates.
“That’s how it should work; it should be about improving productivity as well as efficiency and output of results,” Ismail said.
He also believes companies need to rethink how they measure employee performance. When staff are assessed mainly on the volume of work they complete, AI can simply increase the number of tasks they are expected to handle.
“Measure the value they add instead, and I believe that HR has to lead this. Ask your teams what part of their job wears them down, and give that to AI first.”
Ismail said businesses should decide in advance how they intend to use the time saved through AI, whether to improve work quality, support skills development or create a more sustainable pace.
“AI is a huge opportunity to make work better. But only if companies let their people feel the benefit and really enjoy using it, not just the bottom line.”
UAE companies rethink workloads and employee wellbeing
Shabeel Ummer, head of HR at V Group International, said AI has helped employees reclaim time rather than increase their workload.
“AI has made our work easier and has given them back real time. But that only happens when you are clear about one principle: we must use AI and not allow AI to use us.”
Across the company’s retail, wholesale, e-commerce and support divisions, employees use AI for drafting, analysis and report preparation. Tasks such as responding to initial customer queries, which previously took hours, can now be completed in minutes.
Ummer said the time saved allows employees to focus on customers, teamwork and business challenges that require human judgement. AI also helps managers distribute project responsibilities more fairly, based on employees’ capacity.
He believes organisations need to rethink what constitutes a productive working day as AI becomes more deeply integrated into everyday operations.
“Companies must rethink daily expectations, but the measure should be the quality of work, not the quantity. A good day is judged by the value created, not the number of tasks completed.”
For HR teams, the challenge is to ensure that efficiency gains translate into meaningful benefits for employees rather than simply creating a fresh set of targets.
“AI should give our people better results, not longer to-do lists. HR’s role is to set that boundary so that time saved by AI goes into better work, learning and customer care, not simply more targets.”
