How many emails does the average worker get per day?

Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index telemetry shows the average worker receives 117 emails a day, most of them skimmed in under 60 seconds. Microsoft also finds mass emails sent to 20 or more recipients rose 7% in a year.

How much time do AI email assistants save?

In Microsoft Research's randomized experiment, workers who used Copilot in more than half of the study weeks spent 3.6 fewer hours a week on email, 31% less time. Across all workers given access, the saving was 1.3 hours a week, because many used the tool only occasionally.

What is a good cold email reply rate in 2026?

Instantly's 2026 benchmark puts the average at 3.43%, with the top 10% of senders at 10.7% or more. Saleshandy reports 4.5% for the first half of 2026, while Belkins measures 0.45% under a stricter definition that excludes auto-replies.

Do people trust emails written with AI?

It depends on context. Hunter finds 67% of cold email recipients do not mind AI use, but a University of Florida study of 1,100 professionals found only 40% to 52% saw supervisors as sincere when messages were heavily AI-assisted, compared with 83% for low-AI messages.

Machine readout · Business & work

AI Email Assistant Statistics 2026

This page collects 53 figures on AI email assistants: how much email people receive, how long they spend in the inbox, how many use AI to draft and triage messages, how much time those tools save, how cold email reply rates look as AI drafting spreads, and how recipients feel about AI-written email. Most data covers the United States and UK in 2024 to 2026, with telemetry from Microsoft 365 and benchmark data from cold email platforms.

Figures: 53
Publishers: 19
Updated: Nov 13, 2026

Quotable findings

By the DBotMaker research desk

Finding 012025
117
Microsoft 365 telemetry for 2025 shows the average worker receives 117 emails a day, and most are skimmed in under a minute.
Source: Microsoft
Finding 022024
11.7
Workers in Microsoft's 2024 to 2025 field experiment across 66 firms spent an average of 11.7 hours a week on email before receiving an AI assistant.
Source: Microsoft Research
Finding 032025
24%
ZeroBounce's 2025 survey of 750 employees and 250 managers found 24% of employees use AI daily to draft or edit workplace emails.
Source: ZeroBounce
Finding 042025
82%
Among professionals who use email, 82% use some AI features in it, the highest AI adoption of any core work tool in Superhuman's 2025 survey.
Source: Superhuman
Finding 052024
3.6
In Microsoft's randomized field experiment, workers who used Copilot in more than half of the study weeks spent 3.6 fewer hours a week on email, 31% less time.
Source: Microsoft Research
Finding 062024
1.3
Across everyone given access, including light users, the measured saving was 1.3 hours of email time a week (intent to treat estimate).
Source: Microsoft Research
Finding 072025
3.43%
Instantly's 2026 benchmark, based on cold email activity across its platform in 2025, puts the average cold email reply rate at 3.43%.
Source: Instantly
Finding 082025
83%
In a 2025 University of Florida and USC study of 1,100 professionals, 83% saw supervisors as sincere when messages had low AI assistance, versus 40% to 52% with high AI assistance.
Source: University of Florida
On file53figures in 6 channels, each with the exact source sentence.Browse all CSV

THE BOT'S SHORT ANSWER

The average worker receives 117 emails a day (Microsoft, 2025), and in Microsoft's randomized field experiment, workers who regularly used an AI assistant spent 3.6 fewer hours a week on email, 31% less time. Adoption is uneven: 24% of employees use AI daily to draft or edit work emails (ZeroBounce, 2025), while cold email reply rates average 3.43% on Instantly and 0.45% under Belkins' stricter count.

53 FIGURES · 19 PUBLISHERS · NOVEMBER 13, 2026

Reading the numbers

Email volume has not shrunk. Microsoft's 2025 telemetry counts 117 emails a day for the average worker, with mass emails to 20 or more recipients up 7% in a year and 40% of people online at 6 a.m. starting the day in their inbox. Grammarly's survey puts email at 5.3 hours a week, ahead of video meetings and chat, and Microsoft's field experiment measured a baseline of 11.7 hours a week of email work in Outlook.

AI is already part of that work for many people, but the share depends on who is counted. Superhuman reports 82% of professionals who use email use some AI features in it, ZeroBounce finds 24% of employees draft or edit work emails with AI every day, and Gallup's national sample shows 10% of U.S. employees use AI at work daily. Gallup also finds AI writing and editing tools are among the most common AI tools at work, used by 36% of employees who use AI.

The measured time savings are real but smaller than vendor claims. Microsoft Research's randomized experiment found regular Copilot users cut email time by 3.6 hours a week, while the average across everyone given access was 1.3 hours. Superhuman's respondents say AI saves at least a full workday each week, a self-reported figure that sits well above the measured results.

Cold email shows what happens when AI makes writing cheap. Instantly, Saleshandy and Hunter report average reply rates between 3.43% and 4.5%, while Belkins counts only 0.45% under a stricter definition and saw replies fall 20% between the first and second half of 2025. Hunter finds 67% of recipients do not mind AI in cold email, but 71% cite lack of relevance as the main problem, and the University of Florida study shows heavy AI use in manager emails lowers perceived sincerity from 83% to as little as 40%.

Facts the bot knows

CH 01Email volume and time spent in the inbox

9 figures

#001117
Microsoft 365 telemetry for 2025 shows the average worker receives 117 emails a day, and most are skimmed in under a minute.
Microsoft, Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The average worker receives 117 emails daily—most of them skimmed in under 60 seconds.
#00240%
Among Microsoft 365 users online at 6 a.m. in 2025, 40% were reviewing email to set the day's priorities.
Microsoft, Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Our telemetry data shows: 40% of people who are online at 6 am are reviewing email for the day’s priorities.
#0037%
Mass emails sent to 20 or more recipients rose 7% year over year in Microsoft's 2025 data, while one-to-one threads declined 5%.
Microsoft, Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Mass emails with 20+ recipients are up 7% in the past year, while one-on-one threads are on the decline ( -5% ).
#00429%
By 10 p.m., 29% of active Microsoft 365 workers return to their inboxes, and the average employee sends or receives more than 50 messages outside core hours (2025).
Microsoft, Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
And it’s not just meetings: the average employee now sends or receives more than 50 messages outside of core business hours, and by 10 pm, nearly a third ( 29% ) of active workers dive back into their inboxes, pointing to a steady rise in after-hours activity.
#005275
Microsoft 365 employees are interrupted by a meeting, email or chat about 275 times during core work hours each day, roughly once every two minutes (2025).
Microsoft, Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Interruptions Employees are interrupted every two minutes during core work hours—275 times a day—by meetings, emails, or chats.
#00611.7
Workers in Microsoft's 2024 to 2025 field experiment across 66 firms spent an average of 11.7 hours a week on email before receiving an AI assistant.
Microsoft Research, Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI (Apr 2025)
Exact wording at the source
This shift represents a 31% time savings from the 11.7 hours per week that the average studied worker spent on email in the pre-period.
#0075.3
U.S. knowledge workers surveyed by Grammarly reported spending 5.3 hours a week in email, more than any other communication channel (2023 survey, fundamental benchmark).
Grammarly, The State of Business Communication (Feb 2024)
Exact wording at the source
Knowledge workers report spending the most time in email (5.3 hours), followed by virtual video meetings (4.03 hours), and text-based chat (3.35 hours).
#00819.93
The same Grammarly survey found written communication takes 19.93 hours of a 40-hour week, about half of working time.
Grammarly, The State of Business Communication (Feb 2024)
Exact wording at the source
This adds up to about half of the typical 40-hour workweek, or 19.93 hours per week.
#00950%
Superhuman's 2025 survey of professionals found more than half of the workday is spent in email, messaging and calendar tools.
Superhuman, State of Productivity and AI Report 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
But the clear opportunity today is that more than 50% of the workday is spent in email, messaging, and calendar.

CH 02After-hours email and inbox pressure

7 figures

#01071%
In ZeroBounce's survey of professionals, 71% said they check work email while on vacation.
ZeroBounce, The Out-of-Office Illusion: What Our Email Habits Reveal About Work Culture (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Time off is not truly off: 71% of respondents check work email on vacation.
#01174%
74% of professionals surveyed by ZeroBounce feel pressure to reply to email quickly, even outside working hours.
ZeroBounce, The Out-of-Office Illusion: What Our Email Habits Reveal About Work Culture (2026)
Exact wording at the source
In practice, though, most workers (74%) feel pressure to reply quickly, even when they’re off the clock.
#01220%
Nearly 20% of Microsoft 365 employees who work on weekends check email before noon on Saturday and Sunday (2025).
Microsoft, Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Nearly 20% of employees actively working on the weekend are checking their email before noon on Saturday and Sunday—waking up to work, even on typical days off.
#01332%
32% of U.S. office workers in Fyxer's Admin Burden Index named the inbox as their biggest drain on time.
Fyxer, Admin Burden Index report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
32% of US workers cite the inbox as their top drain.
#01426%
26% of UK office workers in the same Fyxer study said reading, writing or replying to email is their top time-wasting admin task.
Fyxer, Admin Burden Index report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Email is the biggest time-waster 26% of UK office workers cite reading, writing or replying to emails as their #1 time-wasting admin task.
#0155.6
Fyxer estimates employees lose 5.6 hours a week to admin work that AI could handle.
Fyxer, Admin Burden Index report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Employees lose 5.6 hours per week to admin that could be handled by AI.
#01692%
92% of Gen Z workers in ZeroBounce's 2026 report say the number of emails they get affects their productivity to some degree.
ZeroBounce, Gen Z at Work: The 2026 ZeroBounce Report (2026)
Exact wording at the source
92% say the number of emails they get affects their productivity to some degree – with 33% saying this is “always” or “often” the case.

Chart

When professionals check work email

ZeroBounce survey of professionals, 2026

Before work62%
After work56%
On weekends37%

Source: ZeroBounce, The Out-of-Office Illusion: What Our Email Habits Reveal About Work Culture

CH 03How many people use AI to write and manage email

10 figures

#01724%
ZeroBounce's 2025 survey of 750 employees and 250 managers found 24% of employees use AI daily to draft or edit workplace emails.
ZeroBounce, When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is AI Killing Compassion at Work? (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Key takeaways Nearly 1 in 4 employees (24%) use AI daily for drafting or editing workplace emails.
#01816%
Managers in the same ZeroBounce survey said 16% of the messages they send are AI-written on average, and 8% use AI for half or more of their messages.
ZeroBounce, When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is AI Killing Compassion at Work? (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
On average, 16% of the messages managers send are AI-written; 8% of managers use AI to write 50% or more of their messages.
#01982%
Among professionals who use email, 82% use some AI features in it, the highest AI adoption of any core work tool in Superhuman's 2025 survey.
Superhuman, State of Productivity and AI Report 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Among these tools, adoption of AI in email is strongest — 82% of the professionals who use email leverage some AI features.
#02045%
Gallup's Q3 2025 survey of U.S. employees found 45% used AI at work at least a few times a year, up from 40% in the prior quarter.
Gallup, AI Use at Work Rises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
employees who reported using AI at work at least a few times a year increased from 40% to 45% between the second and third quarters of 2025.
#02123%
Daily AI use at work reached 10% of U.S. employees in Q3 2025, while use a few times a week or more reached 23% (Gallup).
Gallup, AI Use at Work Rises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Frequent use (a few times a week or more) grew from 19% to 23%, while daily use moved less, ticking up from 8% to 10% during the same period.
#02236%
Among U.S. employees who use AI at work, 36% use AI writing and editing tools, second only to chatbots and assistants (Gallup, 2025).
Gallup, AI Use at Work Rises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
AI writing and editing tools were the next most commonly used tools (36%), followed by AI coding assistants (14%).
#0239%
Pew Research Center's October 2024 survey found only 9% of U.S. workers used AI chatbots for work every day or a few times a week.
Pew Research Center, Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Relatively small shares of workers say they have used AI chatbots for work: 9% say they use them every day or a few times a week, and 7% say they use them a few times a month.
#02430%
About 30% of consumer ChatGPT usage is work-related, according to OpenAI's 2025 analysis of usage data.
OpenAI, How people are using ChatGPT (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Approximately 30% of consumer usage is work-related and approximately 70% is non-work—with both categories continuing to grow over time, underscoring ChatGPT’s dual role as both a productivity tool and a driver of value for consumers in daily life.
#02540%
Task-oriented 'Doing' requests such as drafting text make up 40% of ChatGPT usage in OpenAI's 2025 analysis.
OpenAI, How people are using ChatGPT (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Doing (40% of usage, including about one third of use for work) encompasses task-oriented interactions such as drafting text, planning, or programming, where the model is enlisted to generate outputs or complete practical work.
#02635%
35% of U.S. knowledge workers in a 2025 Grammarly survey said an AI tool that can draft emails for them would be beneficial.
Grammarly, Workplace productivity and AI: survey of American knowledge workers (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
When asked what they’d find beneficial with an AI tool, employees highlighted having a tool that’s easy to use (49%) and can help draft emails for them (35%), as well as something that’s easy to prompt (35%).

CH 04Time saved by AI email assistants

8 figures

#0273.6
In Microsoft's randomized field experiment, workers who used Copilot in more than half of the study weeks spent 3.6 fewer hours a week on email, 31% less time.
Microsoft Research, Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI (Apr 2025)
Exact wording at the source
We find that access to the AI tool during the first year of its release primarily impacted behaviors that workers could change independently and not behaviors that require coordination to change: workers who used the tool in more than half of the sample weeks spent 3.6 fewer hours, or 31% less time on email each week (intent to treat estimate is 1.3 hours) and completed documents moderately faster, but did not significantly change time spent in meetings.
#0281.3
Across everyone given access, including light users, the measured saving was 1.3 hours of email time a week (intent to treat estimate).
Microsoft Research, Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI (Apr 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Using Copilot in at least half the post-period weeks caused workers to spend over 3.5 fewer hours per week working on emails (1.3 fewer hours in the intent-to-treat estimates).
#0297%
In Microsoft's 6,000-worker Copilot study, workers with access cut time spent reading email by 7%, or 12 minutes a week.
Microsoft Research, Early Impacts of M365 Copilot (Apr 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Workers with access to Copilot reduced this time by 7% on average (12 minutes per week), through a combination of opening fewer emails and spending less time reading each one.
#03046
Copilot users in that study replied to emails nearly 10% faster, about 46 minutes sooner on average.
Microsoft Research, Early Impacts of M365 Copilot (Apr 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Copilot licensees replied to emails 18 minutes (4%) faster on average, and Copilot users replied nearly 10% faster (46 minutes).
#0311
Professionals in Superhuman's 2025 survey say AI saves them at least one full workday every week.
Superhuman, State of Productivity and AI Report 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Our survey respondents say that AI is already saving them at least 1 full workday every week.
#03272%
Superhuman reports its Mail users send and respond to 72% more emails per hour than non-users (vendor data, 2025).
Superhuman, State of Productivity and AI Report 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
For example, Superhuman Mail users send and respond to 72% more emails per hour compared to non-users.
#03336%
Sellers surveyed by Salesforce in 2025 expect AI agents to cut email drafting time by 36% once fully implemented.
Salesforce, Salesforce State of Sales report: AI and agents top growth tactic (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Once fully implemented, sellers expect agents to cut prospect research time by 34% and email drafting by 36%, giving sales teams meaningful time back in their day.
#03440%
Among U.S. workers who have used AI chatbots for work, 40% say the tools have been extremely or very helpful for doing things more quickly (Pew, 2024 survey).
Pew Research Center, Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Among workers who have used AI chatbots for work, 40% say these tools have been extremely or very helpful in allowing them to do things more quickly .

CH 05Cold email reply rates in the AI era

13 figures

#0353.43%
Instantly's 2026 benchmark, based on cold email activity across its platform in 2025, puts the average cold email reply rate at 3.43%.
Instantly, Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026: Reply Rates, Deliverability and Trends (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Our analysis found that top performing (“elite”) cold email campaigns exceed a 10 % reply rate , top quartile achieve 5.5% reply rates, and a average reply rate of 3.43%.
#03610.7%
The top 10% of senders in Instantly's data reach reply rates of 10.7% or more.
Instantly, Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026: Reply Rates, Deliverability and Trends (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Reply Rate Distribution Across All Campaigns Table: Breakdown of cold email response rate tiers Tier Reply rate Explanation Tier 1 (Top 10%) 10.7%+ reply rate Campaigns in tier 1 demonstrate precision.
#03758%
58% of cold email replies in Instantly's dataset arrive on the first email, with follow-ups producing the other 42%.
Instantly, Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026: Reply Rates, Deliverability and Trends (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
In our dataset, the first email captures 58% of the replies with the remaining 42% being captured by follow-ups.
#0380.45%
Belkins measured an average reply rate of 0.45% across its 2025 cold outreach campaigns, counted against total sends with no open-rate inflation.
Belkins, Cold email response rates in 2025 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Key takeaways The average reply rate across all 2025 campaigns was 0.45% — a figure that reflects strict cold outreach to net-new contacts, with no open-rate inflation.
#03920%
Belkins reply rates fell from 0.50% in the first half of 2025 to 0.40% in the second half, a 20% decline within the year.
Belkins, Cold email response rates in 2025 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The second half dropped to 0.40% — a 20% decline within the same year.
#0400.72%
Companies with 0 to 10 employees replied to Belkins cold emails at 0.72% in 2025, more than three times the 0.22% rate at enterprises of 10,000 or more.
Belkins, Cold email response rates in 2025 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Very small companies (0–10 employees) reply at 0.72% — more than three times the rate of large enterprises (10,000+ employees at 0.22%).
#0414.5%
Saleshandy found an average cold email reply rate of 4.5% for emails sent through its platform from January to June 2026.
Saleshandy, I Analyzed 53 Million Cold Emails. Here Are 13 Statistics That Matter in 2026 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
The Average Cold Email Reply Rate Is 4.5% When we analyzed cold emails sent between January and June 2026, we found that the average cold email reply rate was 4.5%.
#04257%
57% of positive replies in Saleshandy's 2026 dataset came from follow-up emails rather than the first message.
Saleshandy, I Analyzed 53 Million Cold Emails. Here Are 13 Statistics That Matter in 2026 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
Follow-Up Emails Generate 57% of Positive Replies 57% of all positive replies came from follow-up emails, not the initial outreach.
#04378%
Cold emails with a single soft call to action generated 78% more positive replies than emails with hard calls to action (Saleshandy, 2026).
Saleshandy, I Analyzed 53 Million Cold Emails. Here Are 13 Statistics That Matter in 2026 (2026)
Exact wording at the source
When we compared CTA styles across the dataset, emails with a single soft CTA generated 78% more positive replies than emails with hard CTAs.
#0444.1%
Hunter's analysis of 11 million emails puts the average campaign reply rate at 4.1%, meaning 95.9% of cold emails go unanswered.
Hunter, The State of Cold Email 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Even though decision-makers prefer cold emails, the average reply rate to a campaign is 4.1%.
#0455.8%
Hunter campaigns with 50 or fewer recipients averaged a 5.8% reply rate, compared with 2.1% for campaigns of 1,000 or more recipients.
Hunter, The State of Cold Email 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Campaigns with 50 recipients or fewer get an average 5.8% reply rate, compared to 2.1% for campaigns with 1000+ recipients.
#04661%
61% of decision-makers surveyed by Hunter chose cold email as their preferred outreach channel, ahead of LinkedIn at 29% and cold calls at 10%.
Hunter, The State of Cold Email 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
We asked decision-makers about their preferred channel, and 61% chose cold email, leaving LinkedIn (29%) and cold call (10%) far behind.
#04787%
87% of sales organizations use some form of AI, including for drafting emails, according to Salesforce's 2025 survey of sales professionals.
Salesforce, Salesforce State of Sales report: AI and agents top growth tactic (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
AI adoption in sales is already mainstream: 87% of sales organizations currently use some form of AI for tasks like prospecting, forecasting, lead scoring, or drafting emails.

Chart

Cold email reply rate by campaign size

Hunter analysis of 11 million emails sent through Hunter Sequences, State of Cold Email 2025

50 recipients or fewer5.8%
1,000+ recipients2.1%

Source: Hunter, The State of Cold Email 2025

CH 06Trust and perception of AI-written email

6 figures

#04883%
In a 2025 University of Florida and USC study of 1,100 professionals, 83% saw supervisors as sincere when messages had low AI assistance, versus 40% to 52% with high AI assistance.
University of Florida, Is writing with AI at work undermining your credibility? (Aug 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The impact on trust was substantial: Only 40% to 52% of employees viewed supervisors as sincere when they used high levels of AI, compared to 83% for low-assistance messages.
#04995%
The same study found 95% of employees rated low-AI supervisor messages professional, dropping to 69% to 73% for heavily AI-assisted messages.
University of Florida, Is writing with AI at work undermining your credibility? (Aug 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Similarly, while 95% found low-AI supervisor messages professional, this dropped to 69-73% when supervisors relied heavily on AI tools.
#05067%
Hunter's survey found AI use in the cold emails they receive is not a concern for 67% of recipients.
Hunter, The State of Cold Email 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Why AI isn't of a concern to 67% of recipients
#05171%
71% of decision-makers surveyed by Hunter named lack of relevance as the main problem with cold emails, ahead of impersonality at 43%.
Hunter, The State of Cold Email 2025 (2025)
Exact wording at the source
Relevance is the biggest issue by a long way: 71% of decision-makers named lack of relevancy as the primary issue, followed by impersonality (43%) and lack of trust (36%).
#05240%
40% of employees in ZeroBounce's 2025 survey think sensitive emails should never be AI-assisted, while 56% say some AI help improves clarity when paired with human personalization.
ZeroBounce, When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is AI Killing Compassion at Work? (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
While 40% of employees think sensitive emails should never be AI-assisted, 56% believe some AI help can improve clarity when paired with human personalization .
#05352%
52% of employees in the same ZeroBounce survey say AI makes them more confident in workplace writing.
ZeroBounce, When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is AI Killing Compassion at Work? (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
52% of employees feel AI makes them more confident in workplace writing.

Chart

Employees who view a supervisor's message as sincere, by level of AI use

Study of 1,100 professionals, University of Florida and University of Southern California, 2025

Low AI assistance83%
High AI assistance (upper)52%
High AI assistance (lower)40%

Source: University of Florida, Is writing with AI at work undermining your credibility?

Asked and answered

Questions readers ask

QHow many emails does the average worker get per day?: AMicrosoft's 2025 Work Trend Index telemetry shows the average worker receives 117 emails a day, most of them skimmed in under 60 seconds. Microsoft also finds mass emails sent to 20 or more recipients rose 7% in a year.
QHow much time do AI email assistants save?: AIn Microsoft Research's randomized experiment, workers who used Copilot in more than half of the study weeks spent 3.6 fewer hours a week on email, 31% less time. Across all workers given access, the saving was 1.3 hours a week, because many used the tool only occasionally.
QWhat share of workers use AI to write emails?: AZeroBounce's 2025 survey found 24% of employees use AI daily to draft or edit workplace emails, and Superhuman reports 82% of professionals who use email use some AI features. Gallup's national data puts daily AI use at work at 10% of U.S. employees in Q3 2025.
QWhat is a good cold email reply rate in 2026?: AInstantly's 2026 benchmark puts the average at 3.43%, with the top 10% of senders at 10.7% or more. Saleshandy reports 4.5% for the first half of 2026, while Belkins measures 0.45% under a stricter definition that excludes auto-replies.
QDo people trust emails written with AI?: AIt depends on context. Hunter finds 67% of cold email recipients do not mind AI use, but a University of Florida study of 1,100 professionals found only 40% to 52% saw supervisors as sincere when messages were heavily AI-assisted, compared with 83% for low-AI messages.

Where these numbers come from

We used primary sources only: Microsoft telemetry and Microsoft Research's randomized field experiment, national surveys from Gallup and Pew Research Center, OpenAI's analysis of ChatGPT usage, a peer-reviewed study reported by the University of Florida, and surveys or platform data published by the companies that collected them (Grammarly, Superhuman, Fyxer, ZeroBounce, Salesforce, Instantly, Belkins, Saleshandy, Hunter). Vendor surveys use their own samples and are not representative of all workers. Cold email reply rates are not directly comparable: some platforms count all replies against delivered emails and others exclude auto-replies and count against all sends. Each quote was rechecked against the live source page on the update date. We store the sentence each number appears in, and a script loads the publisher's page again to make sure that sentence is still there. Our methodology has the details.

Input log

Sources

01Belkins. Cold email response rates in 2025 (2026).
02Fyxer. Admin Burden Index report (2026).
03Gallup. AI Use at Work Rises (Dec 2025).
04Grammarly. The State of Business Communication (Feb 2024).
05Grammarly. Workplace productivity and AI: survey of American knowledge workers (Jun 2025).
06Hunter. The State of Cold Email 2025 (2025).
07Instantly. Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026: Reply Rates, Deliverability and Trends (Jan 2026).
08Microsoft. Breaking down the infinite workday (Work Trend Index special report) (Jun 2025).
09Microsoft Research. Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI (Apr 2025).
10Microsoft Research. Early Impacts of M365 Copilot (Apr 2025).
11OpenAI. How people are using ChatGPT (Sep 2025).
12Pew Research Center. Workers' experience with AI chatbots in their jobs (Feb 2025).
13Salesforce. Salesforce State of Sales report: AI and agents top growth tactic (Feb 2026).
14Saleshandy. I Analyzed 53 Million Cold Emails. Here Are 13 Statistics That Matter in 2026 (2026).
15Superhuman. State of Productivity and AI Report 2025 (2025).
16University of Florida. Is writing with AI at work undermining your credibility? (Aug 2025).
17ZeroBounce. The Out-of-Office Illusion: What Our Email Habits Reveal About Work Culture (2026).
18ZeroBounce. Gen Z at Work: The 2026 ZeroBounce Report (2026).
19ZeroBounce. When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is AI Killing Compassion at Work? (Sep 2025).

Cite this page

Link to this page or to a single numbered figure. If you reuse a number, name the organization that released it in the first place.

DBotMaker. (2026, November 13). AI Email Assistant Statistics 2026. https://dbotmaker.io/ai-email-assistant-statistics

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