Dropbox CTO Ali Dasdan on moving from AI adoption to transformation

As AI becomes a starting point for more kinds of work, its usefulness depends on access to an organization’s trusted knowledge and context, including the files, research, feedback, decisions, and project history that give the work meaning. Dropbox helps people bring that context into the supported AI tools they choose while preserving the permissions and controls they expect, so they can spend less time finding, uploading, and re-explaining what already exists. When AI helps them create something new, Dropbox gives that work a trusted, durable home where it can be saved, shared, reviewed, approved, and built on over time.

That focus on connected workflows also shapes how we use AI within Dropbox. Access to increasingly capable models can help teams produce more. But turning that output into sustained gains in productivity, quality, and customer impact requires examining workflows from end to end. That includes addressing new bottlenecks as output grows, adapting the platform that supports development, aligning organization-wide incentives, and measuring whether greater speed and volume lead to better outcomes.

AI also increases the importance of human judgment. People still need to choose the right problems, give agents the context they need, evaluate the validity of their output, and remain in control of important decisions and actions. Problem solving, communication, and leadership become critical to turning AI-enabled output into real value.

Dropbox Chief Technology Officer Ali Dasdan and Senior Director of Engineering Productivity Uma Namasivayam discuss lessons from deploying AI at company scale, how we assess productivity and ROI, how our progress compares with industry peers, and what organizations need to consider as they move from AI adoption to broader transformation.