Signal or Noise: How AI Can Give Us Back Time to Think

One of the things that has occupied my mind the most lately is a simple but uncomfortable question:

Where do I actually bring the most value to my work, to my organization, and to my career?

Some time ago, I heard a concept in a podcast that immediately caught my attention: Signal vs. Noise. The question they asked was simple: Is your day driven by signal, or by noise?

At first, I didn’t fully understand it. After looking into it, I learned that signal represents the activities that move you closer to your core goals — the high-value work. Noise, on the other hand, consists of distractions and tasks that keep you busy but prevent you from investing time in what really matters.

How often have we heard people say, “I worked all day, and still didn’t get anything important done”?

We often measure our work by how busy we were, instead of how productive we actually were toward the bigger goal.

Think about the meetings that appear out of nowhere, labeled as “urgent,” yet lack a clear agenda or preparation. Or the endless stream of emails that demand attention but deliver little value. We all need time to think, review, and strategize. When everything is burning and you spend the entire day firefighting, that’s a strong signal that your work is being driven by noise.

From Steve Jobs’ biography, I learned the importance of starting the day by defining priorities — and just as importantly, deciding what to say no to. From Elon Musk’s leadership approach, I learned that when a meeting is unprepared, runs longer than necessary, or stops adding value, it should be acceptable to leave and refocus on what truly matters.

This concept forces us to rethink how we work. I believe we don’t give ourselves enough time to think, reflect, and be creative. Being busy all the time kills creativity. It removes the opportunity to step back, see the big picture, and explore possibilities.

Of course, operational tasks still need to be done. Emails must be read, tickets resolved, and urgent issues handled. But this is where I see enormous potential in one of humanity’s most powerful recent achievements: AI.

Imagine having “mini-yous” that handle operational work.

An AI agent that reads your emails, identifies which require your response, summarizes informational messages, and ignores pure notifications.

An IT operations agent that takes user input, suggests solutions, creates and classifies tickets, and assigns them to the right team — all without human intervention.

Or an agent that reviews weeks of meeting transcripts and helps you prepare for upcoming discussions by identifying key themes, risks, and strategic opportunities.

The sky is the limit.

As IT leaders, we must prepare our organizations for this future — not only from a technological standpoint, but also in terms of governance, security, and user adoption.

I strongly resonate with Microsoft’s promise around AI: doing more with less. Not fewer people, but less time spent on low-value operational tasks and more time invested in high-impact work. That’s where companies grow, and careers thrive.

So the real question is:

Are you preparing your company for this shift?