AI at work: getting more done with less hype

Our view of AI is pretty simple: the most powerful application of AI is for it to be useful to people. 

That’s because our founding principle, curiosity, rests on the simple premise that a human superpower will always be asking more questions. In fact, history shows the most successful and transformational people in work and life are always  those with the most questions. Whatever your vision for your work and career, every vision begins with a question.  

So how do we zoom this lofty ideal into your day-to-day workflow?  

Perplexity launched more than 75 features and products this year, many of which integrate directly into your workflow and help you do more.  These include Comet, Comet Assistant, Labs, Spaces, Email Assistant, connectors for apps like Gmail, Notion, Linear, and GitHub, a voice assistant to ask questions and get to work on the go, video and image generation, Enterprise protections, and more. 

For practical tips on how they actually come together we recently published our Perplexity at Work guide. 

The bottom line is we suggest using AI at work in three ways: 

• First, AI can help you get rid of distractions to reclaim your focus. Everything starts with more focus.

• Then, AI can multiply your effectiveness. AI should help you scale everything you’re already good at.

• And finally AI should deliver results. AI needs to support the real outcomes that matter to you.

Block distractions: using AI to reclaim your focus

A key advantage of AI is its potential to protect your attention in an era of endless interruptions. Notifications, calendar pop-ups, and administrative tasks eat away at the time you could spend truly solving problems. Persistent context-switching—jumping between apps, email, and documents—drains focus and makes thoughtful work difficult.

Perplexity is structured to minimize distractions:

• Routine tasks (like sorting email, scheduling, or gathering content across platforms) are delegated to your AI assistant.

• Research, updates, and project summaries are surfaced directly, cutting back on the need to bounce between tabs or apps.

• Context follows your work, so you’re never forced to reassemble information that should simply be there.

By assigning these tasks to Perplexity’s system, you gain uninterrupted time for focused effort. The reduction in micro-interruptions is not a small benefit—it’s foundational for deep, high-quality output.

Scale yourself: AI is best when you lead with your own talent 

After clearing a path to deep work, Perplexity enables you to multiply your effectiveness. Its approach isn’t to overrule your expertise; it’s to amplify what you already know and do well, letting you operate on a larger and more strategic scale.

Integration is key. Instead of approaching AI as an add-on, Perplexity sits within your regular workflows—research, writing, project management, and communication. You can quickly process complex research, synthesize insights from multiple sources, and produce professional deliverables without splitting your attention across the tools required to create them.

Advanced functions such as research agents, content synthesis, and task automation let you:

• Conduct competitive analysis or gather market intelligence across hundreds of sources without hours of manual effort.

• Produce client-ready reports, presentations, or summaries by giving the intent and letting Perplexity handle formatting and integration.

• Manage cross-functional projects with a coherent flow of information, making sure nothing is lost in handoffs or transitions.

Your expertise remains in charge, but the scale of your impact grows without demanding extra hours or more resources.

Get results: use AI to get more done, faster

Ultimately, AI should help you achieve results that matter. This means moving beyond outputs to real, measurable progress—documents delivered, sales closed, partnerships formed, strategies clarified, and projects completed efficiently.

Perplexity keeps you on track by:

• Summarizing project histories, feedback, and data for performance reviews or professional growth

• Supporting personalized outreach and lead generation with timely, relevant intelligence for sales or business development

• Streamlining project execution, ensuring research, planning, and reporting are both accurate and actionable

When routine tasks, research, and summarization are handled, your time is freed for strategic work. You put energy into the activities that lead to career progression or business impact, rather than shuffling information or chasing down small details.

AI for every workflow

AI earns its place at work when it is practical, accountable, and direct. Whether you’re handling a single meeting, preparing for a product launch, or managing the day-to-day grind, AI should be there in the background—quietly supporting your goals, not adding friction.

Great AI should support the way you work, extend your strengths, and help you focus on what matters most. It shouldn’t be a gimmick, a distraction, or source of uncertainty.  AI’s current best use is to make work easier by taking on repetitive or high-friction tasks, bringing order to scattered information, and helping you get clarity from noise. Instead of being another app to juggle or subscription to maintain, worthwhile AI should feel like a seamless extension of your abilities and priorities.

The bar for using AI at work shouldn't be impressive. It should be useful.

For practical tips on how to use Perplexity, download our Perplexity at Work guide to see how teams at NVIDIA, Bridgewater, and PayPal are getting real work done.