Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming less about answering questions and more about helping people get work done. That is the direction OpenAI is betting on with ChatGPT Work, a workplace-focused agent that the company says is now being adopted at scale alongside Codex.

According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Work and Codex have together crossed 10 million active users, reflecting what it describes as a growing shift in how people use AI. Rather than treating ChatGPT as a search engine or conversational assistant, professionals are beginning to delegate routine administrative work, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks that require creativity, judgement and decision-making.

OpenAI positions ChatGPT Work as a digital equivalent of a chief of staff. Instead of simply responding to prompts, the AI agent can work across connected workplace applications and files—provided users grant permission—to gather information, organise it and prepare useful outputs such as presentations, spreadsheets, reports, project briefings and summaries.

The company argues that much of a professional’s day is consumed by tasks surrounding the actual work rather than the work itself. Sorting through email threads, coordinating calendars, preparing meeting updates, following up on conversations and managing documents can quickly eat into time reserved for strategic thinking.

One of the key workflows OpenAI is highlighting is a daily planning prompt. Users can instruct ChatGPT Work to review connected email accounts, calendars and unread Slack conversations every morning before creating a prioritised plan for the day. The prompt identifies urgent requests, pending decisions, unanswered messages and open commitments while citing the source of each item. Importantly, the AI only prepares recommendations, with users retaining control over whether any actions are taken.

OpenAI says the same approach can extend to a variety of workplace scenarios.

For example, ChatGPT Work can consolidate discussions spread across Slack, meeting notes and shared folders into a single project status update. It can also analyse large spreadsheets, clean formatting inconsistencies, verify data where possible and generate summaries explaining what has changed.

Employees returning from leave can ask the AI to prepare a catch-up briefing highlighting major developments and tasks requiring immediate attention. Business teams can use it to compare monthly performance reports and generate plain-language explanations for significant changes. Scheduling meetings across multiple participants can also become easier, with the AI comparing calendars, accounting for time zones and preparing invitations for user approval.

OpenAI emphasises that users remain in control throughout the process. Access to email, calendars, Slack or other connected services is optional, progress can be reviewed at every stage and the AI cannot send messages or make changes without approval.

The broader message behind ChatGPT Work is that workplace AI is evolving from a tool that simply answers questions into one capable of completing meaningful tasks. As AI agents become better at interacting with business software and enterprise data, companies are increasingly exploring ways to automate repetitive administrative work while keeping humans responsible for final decisions.

For professionals overwhelmed by overflowing inboxes, packed calendars and endless status updates, that shift could translate into something increasingly valuable: more time to focus on the work that actually requires human expertise.

!function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq = function () {
n.callMethod ?
n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded = !0; n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = []; t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0;
t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)
}(window, document, ‘script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘877586283401283’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);