Hubstaff has released a new agency report revealing a significant disconnect between the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence and how its impact is measured. The research, titled "More Profit, Less Burnout: How Smart Agencies Scale," finds that while AI tools are delivering substantial productivity gains, their contribution is largely invisible in the time-tracking data that leaders use for critical capacity and profit planning.
Quick Intel
Hubstaff research shows 65-73% of agency teams are already using AI tools.
86% of agencies report productivity gains from AI implementation.
However, only about 4% of logged hours are directly attributed to AI-related tasks.
This data gap means agencies are likely underestimating AI's true efficiency contribution.
AI helps teams move faster (67%) and focus more effectively (69%).
The report urges agencies to modernize time tracking to capture AI-driven capacity gains.
The Widespread Adoption and Invisible Impact of AI
The report highlights a pervasive trend: AI is deeply embedded in agency workflows, with a majority of teams using it for tasks like research, reporting, and project management. An overwhelming 86% report measurable productivity gains, with 67% noting their teams move faster and 69% achieving better focus. Despite this, traditional time-tracking categories fail to capture this shift, with logged hours for AI tasks remaining remarkably low at around 4%.
The Strategic Imperative for Modern Measurement
This discrepancy presents a major strategic challenge. If AI is creating efficiency but that efficiency isn't quantified, agency leaders cannot accurately plan capacity, price projects, or understand their true profit drivers. Jared Brown, CEO of Hubstaff, emphasized this point, stating, "Agencies are gaining hours every week with AI, but they're not tracking those wins. You can't optimize what you don't measure." This lack of visibility prevents agencies from turning AI-driven productivity into a measurable competitive advantage.
Connecting AI Efficiency to Measurable Growth
The core conclusion of the report is that agencies must develop a new lens for time tracking in the AI era. To scale profitably and reduce burnout, leaders need visibility into what work is being automated, which applications are being used, and how AI is reshaping team capacity. By making these gains visible, agencies can accurately connect the dots between AI-driven efficiency and actual, billable capacity, transforming an invisible boost into concrete, measurable growth.
Hubstaff's research underscores a critical evolution in operational management. For agencies to truly scale in the AI era, they must move beyond simply adopting new tools and begin systematically measuring their impact. Bridging this data gap is the key to unlocking predictable profitability and sustainable growth, turning the promise of AI into a quantifiable asset on the balance sheet.
About Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a time tracking platform built for global teams. Track time, automate payments, monitor productivity, and get actionable productivity insights — all in one tool.
About the Research
Research findings are built on anonymized work data collected from more than 140,000 users in the Hubstaff platform. For more detail on our methodology, please see the Workstyle Revolution: Debunking Myths and Unlocking Distributed Team Potential and the AI Productivity Shift Report.
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