New Intelligent Technologies: Are They Making the Workplace Productive?

This paper investigates whether intelligent workplace technologies improve firm-level productivity and, if so, under what conditions, with particular attention to their implications for the economic and social sustainability of firms. This investigation occurs in a context where firms increasingly combine automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and work-from-home (WFH) practices to sustain performance under structural shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite evidence that firms adopt these technologies jointly and reorganize work accordingly, existing research typically examines them in isolation. We develop a micro-founded, task-based production model in which firms allocate tasks between on-site and remote labor and automated capital in an optimal manner. This model allows both automation technologies and remote work collaboration tools to affect productivity and coordination costs that are central to long-term organizational sustainability. Using firm-level survey data from nearly 4000 large firms across industries and countries (2018–2021), we show that working from home (WFH) exhibits diminishing productivity returns when scaled in isolation, reflecting rising coordination frictions. In contrast, firms that combine WFH with automation and digital collaboration tools experience significantly higher labor productivity growth. These integrated technology systems support sustainable productivity by enabling capital deepening, resilient task reallocation, and more efficient use of labor resources over time. Overall, the findings suggest that productivity gains—and by extension sustainable firm performance—stem from integrated workplace technology systems rather than isolated investments, highlighting the importance of coherent technology strategies for organizing work in the post-pandemic economy.