Speakers Outline Human-AI Teamwork

At Constellation Research’s Connected Enterprise 2026, speakers said organizations will need smaller teams as humans and AI agents work together. One proposed format is a pod, a hybrid team of company staff, AI agents and people outside the company. Dr. David A. Bray of the Henry L. Stimson Center said organizations may also form “clusters and flocks.”

Speakers identified handoffs between AI and people as a key design issue. Riptide CEO Doug Marinaro said AI can escalate a task or pass its context to a human, and agents may communicate with other people involved. He described the handoff between parties as an open question.

Social psychologist Ron Friedman said AI is adding an average of three hours to a team’s workweek. He said AI can make individuals faster while slowing teams, because teammates still need time to consume more content. He also warned that “work slop” takes time to interpret and fix. Friedman urged leaders to ask where AI adds value, rather than simply where they can use more of it.

Speakers also raised questions about budgets and compensation. Constellation Research analyst Holger Mueller said AI agents will be part of budgets, while cost calculations will become harder with physical AI and robots. Ascendion CEO Karthik Krishnamurthy said companies want outcome-based payments while still paying employees by the hour; he cited current pay structures of 80–85% fixed base and 10–15% variable. He proposed 50% base pay, 50% variable pay and profit sharing for each project.

BraveCore principal Chris Deaver said company culture will be a key differentiator as AI technology becomes commonplace. He described “people powered AI” as combining technology with human judgment about what matters. Deaver said culture on teams of people and AI agents is still a work in progress.

At Constellation Research’s Connected Enterprise 2026, speakers said organizations will need smaller teams as humans and AI agents work together. One proposed format is a pod, a hybrid team of company staff, AI agents and people outside the company. Dr. David A. Bray of the Henry L. Stimson Center said organizations may also form “clusters and flocks.”

Speakers identified handoffs between AI and people as a key design issue. Riptide CEO Doug Marinaro said AI can escalate a task or pass its context to a human, and agents may communicate with other people involved. He described the handoff between parties as an open question.

Social psychologist Ron Friedman said AI is adding an average of three hours to a team’s workweek. He said AI can make individuals faster while slowing teams, because teammates still need time to consume more content. He also warned that “work slop” takes time to interpret and fix. Friedman urged leaders to ask where AI adds value, rather than simply where they can use more of it.

Speakers also raised questions about budgets and compensation. Constellation Research analyst Holger Mueller said AI agents will be part of budgets, while cost calculations will become harder with physical AI and robots. Ascendion CEO Karthik Krishnamurthy said companies want outcome-based payments while still paying employees by the hour; he cited current pay structures of 80–85% fixed base and 10–15% variable. He proposed 50% base pay, 50% variable pay and profit sharing for each project.

BraveCore principal Chris Deaver said company culture will be a key differentiator as AI technology becomes commonplace. He described “people powered AI” as combining technology with human judgment about what matters. Deaver said culture on teams of people and AI agents is still a work in progress.