P&G, Harvard Study Says Gen AI Gets CPG Teams Working 12% Faster

The Experiment

Between May and July 2024, participants were randomly assigned to one of four situations:

• An individual working without Gen AI
• A team of two humans without Gen AI
• Individuals working with Gen AI
• A team of two humans plus Gen AI

Each team included a commercial professional and an R&D professional to foster “authentic cross-functional collaboration that reflects real-world organizational structures,” according to the study. Those with access to generative AI used Microsoft Azure built on GPT-4. These participants received a one-hour training session on how to prompt and interact with the Gen AI tool for CPG-related tasks.

The experiment looked to answer three key questions:

1. Does Gen AI provide the performance gains traditionally attributed to teamwork?
2. Does Gen AI enable a broadening of expertise even when employees lack certain specialized knowledge and skills?
3. Can Gen AI offer the kind of social engagement that we typically associate with human collaboration? 

As part of this, the study examined whether AI can help employees produce high-quality work at scale and help expand past their typical functional limits (i.e., R&D professionals producing commercially viable ideas or commercial professionals developing technically sound solutions). 

The companies also considered social impact, looking at how AI affects emotional experiences that traditionally emerge in human-to-human interaction. 

Also read: Learn How P&G Is Using AI and Automation for Faster, Smarter Operations

The Results

P&G found that teams working with Gen AI were about 12% faster than those who did not have access to the technology. Results suggested CPG companies see peak performance when they use the technology as a support mechanism and not to replace human interaction. 

In terms of cross-collaboration, the study found that AI helped employees with different backgrounds develop more balanced solutions, regardless of their individual expertise. On a socio-emotional level, the study identified that AI helped to elevate the employee experience, having an overall positive impact on morale.  

“This study affirms what we’ve long suspected: AI is a game-changer for innovation. Whether employees are brainstorming solo or collaborating with others, AI provides a powerful boost, unlocking new ideas and accelerating our speed to innovation,” said P&G chief R&D and innovation officer Victor Aguilar in a statement.