What Work Sprawl really looks like
I’ve spent my career helping organizations untangle the mess of Work Sprawl. It’s not a theoretical problem—it’s the daily reality for teams drowning in manual processes, legacy systems, and a patchwork of disconnected tools. I see the pain in their eyes when they describe another day lost to status updates, another project derailed by miscommunication, another opportunity missed because information was trapped in a silo.
Solving Work Sprawl: ’s Field CTO on AI and the Future of Work
The cost of Work Sprawl
Let’s put a number on it: $2.5 trillion in lost productivity every year. But behind that number are real people—teams who want to do meaningful work but are stuck managing chaos.
My Front-Row Seat: Stories from the Field
The VaynerMedia “aha” moment
One story I keep coming back to is a demo I ran with VaynerMedia. They were evaluating , and I was there to talk through resource management—a tricky area, honestly, because we’re still building out some features. But as I walked them through how their team could actually do the work inside —not just log hours or update statuses, but collaborate, create, and execute—something clicked.
Their champion, Mika, stopped me:
“Wait, people actually do the work here?”
That pause, that realization, is what drives me. It’s the moment when someone sees that Convergence isn’t just possible—it’s happening.
Customers divided: Overwhelmed or overbuilding
I talk to two kinds of customers every day.
The first group is overwhelmed by manual processes. They know something’s broken but don’t know where to start. They’re stuck in the old way of doing things, clinging to features from legacy PMO tools because “that’s how we’ve always done it.”
The second group is on the other end of the spectrum—they want to build their own AI solutions from scratch. They have engineers, ambition, and a real drive to innovate—but what starts as progress quickly becomes a tangled mess of tools that don’t talk to each other. It’s not just Work Sprawl anymore—it’s AI Sprawl. Different models, disconnected outputs, and no shared context. I’ve seen it grind momentum to a halt.
Both groups are missing the same thing: Convergence.
The power of bringing everything—context, communication, execution—into one unified workspace and platform.
The art of the possible: Why AI convergence is about teaching, not selling
When I meet leaders for the first time, I tell them my job isn’t to sell software. It’s to teach the art of the possible. I want them to see that a productivity platform isn’t just a project management tool with AI bolted on. It’s a new way of working—a shift from spinning plates to building something that lasts.
Convergence: The Antidote to Work Sprawl
Why more tools make things worse
I’ve watched organizations try to solve Work Sprawl by buying more tools. They think the next app or AI feature will be the silver bullet. But every new point solution is just another plate to spin—another example of tool sprawl that leads to lost context and fragmented execution.
Convergence means something different: it’s about collapsing those silos, connecting the dots, and letting teams live and work in one place. When you achieve Convergence, you don’t just get efficiency—you get clarity, momentum, and space for real innovation.
What real AI integration looks like
Let me give you a concrete example. I recently worked with a customer who was using three different tools to manage sales calls, track customer feedback, and assign follow-ups. They were manually copying notes from Gong, updating Gainsight, and then sending tasks through email.
When we brought everything into , AI-powered automations started transcribing calls, tagging action items, and assigning follow-ups—all in one place.
No more copy-paste. No more context lost between systems. ✅
The team could see the entire customer journey, collaborate in real time, and actually focus on building relationships instead of managing logistics.
How Converged Workspaces powered by AI solve Work Sprawl
I’ve learned that you can’t fix Work Sprawl by adding more tools. You fix it by creating fewer places for work to hide.
That’s what we’re building with —and what I use every day. With Brain, I’m not bouncing between a note-taking app, a task manager, and a doc editor. I can summarize a meeting, turn it into action items, and actually move things forward—without ever leaving where the work lives. Because the AI understands the context I’m working in, it feels less like a tool and more like a teammate. That’s the difference contextual AI makes—it doesn’t just generate, it collaborates.
One of the things I’ve found surprisingly valuable is the ability to switch between large language models inside Brain. Some days I need speed. On other days, tone or depth matter more. That kind of flexibility—without jumping between platforms—has made AI feel less like a bolt-on and more like a true collaborator.
And then there’s Talk to Text. This one surprised me. I used to lose ideas between meetings—great thoughts I’d never circle back to. Now I just say them out loud, and they turn into tasks or docs right inside . No typing. No chasing. Just… there. With Brain Max on desktop, that experience becomes even sharper—every spoken idea instantly lands in the right place, ready to move forward.
This is the part that resonates most when I speak with other leaders. Everyone’s struggling with too many tools and not enough time. But when they see what’s possible with convergence—when work, context, and AI all show up in one place—it shifts something. They stop asking, “how do we fix the chaos?” and start asking, “what could we build if it weren’t in our way?”
That’s when I know they’ve seen it.
The Change Management Challenge Behind Work Sprawl
Why legacy systems are so hard to leave behind
Change management is the hardest part of my job. I get why organizations cling to legacy systems—they’re familiar, even comforting. But comfort is the enemy of progress.
I’ve seen teams transform when they finally let go. They reclaim hours, reduce friction, and unlock creativity—eliminating a major productivity drain across teams. But it takes courage to question the status quo, to admit that what got you here won’t get you where you want to go.
A practical checklist for leading change
Listen and adapt: Invite feedback and be willing to adjust your approach
Start with one process: Don’t try to overhaul everything at once. Pick a pain point and solve it
Show, don’t tell: Demonstrate the impact of Convergence with real examples from your own team
Celebrate small wins: Change is hard—acknowledge progress and share success stories
Phased adoption: meeting people where they are
One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t force change.
You have to meet people where they are. Sometimes that means starting small—replacing one legacy tool, automating one process, showing one team what’s possible.
But every step toward Convergence is a step away from Work Sprawl. And once people see the difference, they don’t want to go back.
📮 Insight: 1 in 4 employees uses four or more tools just to build context at work. A key detail might be buried in an email, expanded in a Slack thread, and documented in a separate tool, forcing teams to waste time hunting for information instead of getting work done.
converges your entire workflow into one unified platform. With features like Email Project Management, Chat, Docs, and Brain, everything stays connected, synced, and instantly accessible. Say goodbye to “work about work” and reclaim your productive time.
💫 Real Results: Teams are able to reclaim 5+ hours every week using —that’s over 250 hours annually per person—by eliminating outdated knowledge management processes. Imagine what your team could create with an extra week of productivity every quarter!
Advice for Leaders: Don’t Settle for Less
The cost of inaction
If you’re a leader, here’s my challenge: don’t settle. Don’t let inertia dictate your future. Work Sprawl is not inevitable. Convergence is within reach, but you have to want it.
Ask yourself: Are you building for the future, or are you just maintaining the past? Are you empowering your teams or making them work around your systems?
Building a culture of continuous improvement
The best leaders I know foster a culture of continuous improvement. They encourage experimentation, reward curiosity, and aren’t afraid to let go of what’s comfortable.
AI and Convergence aren’t just about technology—they’re about mindset. They’re about believing that work can be better, and then doing the hard work to make it so.
Looking Forward: The Future of Work Is Converged
How roles and teams will evolve
As Work Sprawl fades, I see roles evolving. We’ll need more “agent managers”—people who can orchestrate AI and human collaboration. Prompt engineering will become a core skill. Teams will be smaller, more agile, and focused on outcomes, not just outputs.
👉 My call to action
If you’re reading this, you’re already thinking about what’s next. My advice: take the first step. Challenge your assumptions. Try something new.
Work Sprawl is a problem we can solve—together. Convergence is how we do it.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
