How AI Can Strengthen Team Collaboration Instead of Replacing It

AI Doesn’t Replace Teams—It Can Strengthen Them

It’s tempting to assume that assembling a team of top performers will automatically yield results. Add AI tools to the mix, and the assumption grows stronger: supercharged individuals should deliver even better outcomes. But star performers don’t inherently create high-performing teams—and AI can sometimes make things worse.

Duke University’s dean and professor Scott Dyreng witnessed this firsthand. In his MBA program, students worked in teams and had the option to ‘break up’ for the final project. Before AI tools were widely available, about 5% chose to work alone. After AI became an option, over half of the students opted for solo work, Dyreng wrote in The Wall Street Journal. His observation? AI disrupted essential teamwork skills, such as negotiating and reaching agreements.

Rather than banning AI, Dyreng used it strategically. He employed AI tools for meeting analysis, summarizing discussions, and reporting participation. These tools didn’t replace communication—they strengthened it by encouraging more human interaction. The key takeaway for leaders is clear: the question isn’t whether to use AI, but how to use it effectively. Misaligned team dynamics can neutralize even the most talented individuals. The best teams focus as much on how they work together as on who is on the team—and they leverage AI to enhance, not replace, that collaboration.

Form Balanced Teams for Each Project

At Jotform, employees work in small, cross-functional teams. A typical group includes a senior developer, front-end developer, back-end developer, designer, CSS developer, and sometimes a project or product manager. This structure creates a natural balance, where each member contributes unique expertise. As projects evolve, roles shift, and different team members take the lead based on the work at hand.

Understanding individual strengths and weaknesses is critical to maintaining balanced teams. AI tools can provide valuable insights to help leaders achieve this. For example, meeting analysis can reveal who naturally takes the lead on specific topics. Communication trend data can show where individuals excel throughout a project timeline—identifying who initiates discussions, who organizes tasks, and who excels during execution. If an employee is struggling, such as someone struggling to meet deadlines, AI can help develop personalized learning solutions tailored to their schedule.

When used strategically, AI empowers organizations to capitalize on team members’ strengths and address weaknesses where needed.

Build Feedback Touchpoints Directly into Workflows

Top-performing teams thrive on real-time feedback. Annual reviews are often too infrequent and can create unnecessary anxiety. Instead, leaders should build systems with built-in feedback loops, so team members become accustomed to discussing performance regularly—including positive feedback—and understand how to improve.

At Jotform, this approach removes the ‘dread factor’ from feedback and encourages open communication of ideas. AI and automation tools can further support this process by providing actionable feedback for skill development. Leaders can set up automated reminders for employees to give feedback, both from managers to employees and peer-to-peer. One company embedded tailored AI agents in its workplace software to coach employees through the feedback process. These agents prompt employees to provide immediate, specific insights and even draft responses for employees to edit and send. (Jotform uses a similar template.)

Key Takeaways for Leaders

• Use AI to enhance teamwork, not replace it. AI tools should strengthen communication, not diminish it.
• Form balanced, cross-functional teams. Leverage AI to identify strengths, weaknesses, and leadership potential within teams.
• Integrate real-time feedback into workflows. Replace annual reviews with automated, ongoing feedback systems to foster continuous improvement.