Grounded GenAI Rewires Work: Causal Evidence from a Field Experiment

A randomized field experiment with 316 employees across 42 teams shows that grounded GenAI—AI systems customized with firm knowledge—significantly increases employees' centrality in collaboration and knowledge-sharing networks while boosting productivity and satisfaction. Specialists become more sought-after knowledge hubs, whereas generalists gain larger productivity improvements, revealing heterogeneous, role-dependent effects.
The study reframes AI adoption as organizational design: deploy grounded AI as collaboration infrastructure, provide role-specific training, manage network overload, and align performance systems to reward knowledge-sharing as well as output to sustain long-term value.