Part Two:

In the first part of this series, we talked about growth and how employee experience (EX) plays a critical role in driving customer satisfaction and business success. But growth is only one side of the coin. On the other side, we’ve got productivity and efficiency. You can’t have one without the other. Even the best growth strategy will falter if it’s weighed down by inefficient operations. 

That’s where the “swivel chair problem” comes in. Picture an employee bouncing between multiple systems, copying information from one to another just to complete a simple task. It’s slow, frustrating, and drains productivity. Now let’s take a look at a real-world example: Aston Martin Formula One. In F1, every second counts. Aston Martin doesn’t measure their joiners, movers, and leavers processes by whether the paperwork gets done—they measure it by how those processes affect track performance. Every hour saved in onboarding means more time for engineers to focus on the car, shaving off crucial tenths of a second during a race. 

And while most businesses aren’t running at 200 miles per hour, the principle holds. Inefficiencies—whether in onboarding, offboarding, finance, facilities, or the project management office (PMO)—chip away at outcomes. The challenge is knowing where to focus integration and automation efforts to make the biggest impact. 

This is where Fusion AI Talos becomes essential. Unique to the service management industry, Talos is designed to address the complexities of enterprise operations by analysing both structured and unstructured data—from ERP, service management systems, emails, telephony, chats, social media, and anything else employees engage with. It identifies inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and gaps across operations, working effectively without perfect data or being constrained by the underlying data model. The outcome is actionable insights that point to where automation and employee journeys reshaping will have the greatest effect—aligning efforts with key business priorities and cutting through the noise of competing demands. 

So here’s my ask of you: Focus your efforts where they matter most. Use AI-led analysis to unlock those insights, automate repetitive tasks, and integrate systems around your organisation’s strategic priorities. The goal isn’t just to make things run smoother—it’s to enable your people to focus on meaningful work that drives both productivity and growth. 

Ultimately, productivity isn’t about working harder; it’s about working smarter. By eliminating operational friction, you free employees to do their best work, building momentum that fuels both efficiency and growth. When you get this right, you’re not just streamlining operations—you’re setting the stage for sustainable success. 

In the next part, we’ll tackle the bigger picture. Even with the best processes in place, some barriers need more than operational fixes—they require a shift in mindset. We call this the business-technology-change deadlock, and in the final part of this series, we explore how to break through it. 

Keyvan Shirnia 

Chief Strategy Officer