The New Bar at Work Isn’t “Trying AI.” It’s Proving Value. Fast.

Three things caught my attention in the past 24 hours...

First, the The Wall Street Journal said tech companies are moving past “AI curiosity.” They’re starting to require AI use, track it, and in some cases tie it to performance reviews.

Second, this AI expectation isn’t limited to tech companies. A friend of mine, Jeff Hurst, former President of Expedia Group and current CEO of Furnished Finder added AI productivity to their goals and incentives, “for demonstrable value in using AI in their daily operations to reduce repetitive tasks and allow focus on higher value work that is frankly more fun.”

Third, I caught up Tim Dunn yesterday (former CFO at PepsiCo, Gap, and Hotwire, and operating partner at TPG). His CFO perspective was simple: “If you want leadership to care, don’t show them a tool. Show them value they can understand at an instant glance, and show it fast.”

So what does this look like in practice?

First, don’t go rogue! Use AI in ways that fit your company’s security and approvals.

Consider a simple three-step approach:

1) Pick one weekly time-waster.
Go after the manual, repetitive stuff: searching across email and shared drives, rewriting the same documents, building the same spreadsheet update again and again.

2) Make the goal simple … and measurable!
Examples:
- “I cut this from 3 hours to 30 minutes.”
- “Last month we had 6 missing renewals and last-minute surprises, after AI, none.”

3) Deliver something your boss can forward to her boss and the board.
A one-page summary. A list of upcoming deadlines. A simple “here’s what we have, here’s what’s missing” table.

These trends were top of mind as my co-founder Doug Squires and I worked on the concept for Librari.

We kept coming back to one idea: teams need to feel the impact of AI now, not six months from now, and without a big project.

We focused on business contracts because they’re one of the highest-leverage places to remove repetitive work and unlock real value. Contracts are everywhere, but usually scattered, hard to find, and easy to miss.

We built Librari so you can start in about a minute and see value by tomorrow. It connects to the systems you already use (like Google Drive), finds your contracts, and turns them into something you can actually search, track, and act upon.

Examples:
- A simple list of contracts expiring in the next 90 days, so renewals don’t become fire drills
- Fast answers to “Do we have a contract with Acme?” plus auto-renewal, termination, and notice questions
- A clean “what we have vs. what’s missing” check for key agreements and compliance documents

AI is quickly becoming part of how work is judged. The good news is: you got this! Pick one repetitive pain point, make the goal measurable, and deliver something your leadership can immediately use.

Turn your AI pressure into progress!