How Co-Intelligence is Affecting US Enterprises

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Companies are beginning to move beyond “AI experimentation” to explore Generative AI use cases that push beyond automation and “human replacement”. Innovative enterprises want to use generative AI that encourages what Wharton School of Business Professor Ethan Mollick calls “Co-intelligence”— using Generative AI to act as a force multiplier where humans actively use generative AI to support their work, learning and performance.

Co-intelligence is a concept popularized by Mollick’s 2024 book entitled Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI (Portfolio/Penguin Random House). Co-intelligence is not a product per se; instead, it is a relationship for understanding how to leverage the capabilities of both human and smart machines to make human-AI collaboration a reality in workplace learning and performance support.

Co-intelligence proposes to take advantage of things that machines do better than humans (e.g. pattern recognition, repetitive responses, 24 x 7 service and support) AS WELL AS the things that humans do better than machines (e.g. exercise judgement, demonstrate creativity, motivate other humans) to do something more, together, than either could accomplish on its own.

Here are several examples illustrating how leading companies are starting to use co-intelligence in their work:

1. The “Corporate Brain”: Instant Knowledge & Performance Support

The most prominent application of co-intelligence comes from transforming how employees access institutional knowledge. Instead of traditional training courses, companies are building AI “coworkers” that provide answers in the flow of work.

For example, Morgan Stanley built a custom AI assistant using OpenAI’s GPT-4. Trained on over 100,000 internal research reports and documents, the tool allows financial advisors to instantly retrieve proprietary market insights. Rather than replacing advisors, it acts as an intelligent partner, handling the “grind” of information retrieval so humans can focus on client relationships (1, 2).
A company called Glean is emerging as a leader in “enterprise search,” effectively giving every employee a co-intelligent assistant that remembers everything the company knows. Glean connects to apps like Slack, Google Drive, and Salesforce to answer questions like “Who is the lead on the Project X?” or “What is our policy on remote work?” Its rapid growth—reaching over $100 million in annualized revenue—signals deep demand for AI that augments employee memory and performance (3, 4).

Workday & Sana: Signaling a major bet on AI-driven learning, Workday recently acquired Sana, (AI learning platform Sana Labs) an enterprise AI software developer, for $1.1 billion. Sana focuses on using AI to organize company knowledge and create personalized learning experiences, moving corporate training away from static slide decks toward dynamic, AI-assisted upskilling (5).

2. Real-Time Coaching & “Co-Pilots”

A growing opportunity for Generative AI – human co-intelligence comes from coaching employees during tasks, and providing user feedback that previously would have required a human manager.

Salesforce: The enterprise giant is embedding “co-intelligence” directly into its CRM. For examples, its Einstein GPT and Sales Coach features can draft emails for salespeople and, crucially, offer real-time suggestions during customer calls—effectively whispering advice into a rep’s ear to improve their performance in the moment (6).
Siro: While most sales AI focuses on Zoom calls, this startup targets in-person sales (e.g., door-to-door or field sales). Its app records conversations and uses AI to identify “winning moments” or missed opportunities, effectively giving field reps a coach to review their performance immediately after a pitch (7).

3. Digital “Coworkers” & Role-Specific Agents

Some companies are taking co-intelligence a step further by creating autonomous “digital workers” that handle entire job functions. This shift allows humans to act more like managers of AI agents.

11x and Artisan: These startups are building AI “digital workers”—such as Alice (an AI sales development representative/agent) or Ava (an AI business development representative/agent)—that can autonomously research leads, write emails, and book meetings. The goal is to offload the repetitive “junior” work of sales, allowing human sellers to focus purely on closing deals and strategy (6).
Abridge: In healthcare, Abridge acts as a co-intelligent scribe for doctors. It records patient visits and uses generative AI to draft clinical notes and summaries, reducing the administrative burden that leads to physician burnout and allowing doctors to focus on the “human” aspect of care (9)
Parspec: This startup brings performance support to the construction and supply chain sector. It uses AI to instantly find and select the right products for construction bids, a task that traditionally requires hours of manual catalog searching by human estimators (10).

Why It Matters

The shift toward “co-intelligence” represents a fundamental change in expectation from how enterprise software has been used in the past. The focus is moving from recording work (which is what traditional CRMs and HR systems tended to do) to doing work alongside the human. This is going to represent a shift in activity and focus, and is going to require significant human intervention to ensure adoption.

For investors and executives, the key metric is no longer just efficiency, but “time to proficiency”—how quickly an AI partner can help a new or average employee perform like a top-tier expert.

But it also underscores how important it is to have senior advisors engaged in evaluating and judging efficacy to ensure that human creativity continues to lead both strategic thinking and operational expression in todays enterprises.

References: The Information:

co-intelligence; generative AI

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Ellen Wagner

Ellen is currently managing partner of North Coast EduVisory Services, LLC, where she focuses on digital transformation and emerging technology initiatives in higher education.

How Co-Intelligence is Affecting US Enterprises

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