Careful evidence for the way teams really work
The Acme Work Lab is an independent research team guided by scholars and operators who study how jobs are shifting. We give executives evidence for redesigning teams, roles and routines around new tools. Each project blends close observation with hands-on testing, so findings arrive as plain guidance a manager can act on this quarter.
How we work
Studies with stakes
We run polls, controlled trials, site visits and long conversations with leaders to see which habits help companies adapt and which hold them back.
Playbooks, not theory
Skip the buzzwords. Every study ships with checklists and templates teams can try on Monday.
A bench of specialists
Our contributors span computer scientists, operating leaders and public advisors who test ideas in the field.
Founding circle
The Acme Work Lab draws on a founding circle of researchers and builders: university faculty, seasoned operators and hands-on specialists who turn workplace data into usable lessons.
Recent studies
The Work Signal Index
The Work Signal Index 2026 tracks where new tools are reshaping daily jobs and where old habits still win. Drawing on responses from 4,200 office employees in four markets, it shows that most staff lean on assistants every few days and reclaim real time, while only a minority see their company's results improve.
Written alongside our founding circle, the study traces what people do with the time they win back, including the quiet labor of checking outputs, and which habits turn usage into results.
The Transformation List
Browse a hundred field-tested changes companies have made to their daily routines using new tools.
The GUARD Framework
The GUARD Framework helps risk and IT chiefs prepare for software that acts on its own. Shaped in workshops with defenders at a dozen large companies, it maps what an agent can read, decide and change, giving teams a shared checklist for widening access without losing oversight or audit trails.
Rethinking meetings with AI
Rethinking meetings with AI looks at how assistants could reshape the calendar, from agendas to follow-ups. Using team check-ins and specialist reviews, it spots the moments where gatherings stall and what software might fix.
In progress
Press coverage
[Northwind Business Review] Four trade-offs every executive faces with automation
Read story[Ledger Weekly] What a smart assistant should tell a new hire in week one
Read story[Ledger Weekly] Scientists argue the next breakthroughs need a fresh blueprint
Read story
Are your AI projects moving the numbers, or mostly making noise?
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