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Smartsheet has reported rapid early adoption of its Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, with more than 4,000 users and 1.74 million total actions recorded within days of the product going live.
The MCP Server, which launched alongside a native integration with Anthropic’s Claude, is designed to connect enterprise AI tools directly to live business data held within Smartsheet’s project management platform.
The company described the launch as a shift away from individual productivity gains toward what it calls “organisation-wide intelligence.”
Connecting AI to live work data
The Smartsheet MCP Server allows any MCP-compatible AI tool or agent to access live work data stored in the platform. It gives users access to more than 35 tools for AI agents, with the aim of enabling teams to make decisions and monitor project status without switching between platforms.
According to Smartsheet, 48 per cent of all actions taken by early adopters using Claude involved creating tasks or making updates, rather than simply requesting information. The company claims this has eliminated hours of manual work and reduced waiting time for status updates.
While Claude is the first native integration, the company confirmed that support for OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini will follow next month.
Pratima Arora, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smartsheet, pointed to the launch as a turning point for how AI is used in enterprise project management.
“For years, Smartsheet has been where enterprise work happens. With our MCP, customers are now connecting their AI tools directly to the data and systems that run their business,” Arora explained.
“We are moving past the ‘chat’ phase of AI and into a new era where AI can impact the productivity of teams working on strategic projects.”
Token cost management
One of the technical challenges Smartsheet is attempting to address with the MCP Server is the growing cost of AI usage fees, commonly referred to as token costs.
The company manages work data for more than 100,000 organisations, including tasks, workflows, dependencies and business logic. That volume of data can drive up token consumption when passed through AI models.
Smartsheet has built data optimisation directly into its MCP Server, compressing and filtering information before it reaches the AI model. The company argues this approach results in lighter data payloads, which in turn reduce the fees charged by AI model providers and speed up response times.
The platform also includes governance features, giving IT teams visibility into how AI interacts with work data, including which users are making queries, which tools are being invoked and how tokens are being consumed.
Liz Miller, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, offered her perspective on where the value lies.
“The true ROI of enterprise AI isn’t measured by how many questions can be asked or how much text can be generated; that is the output of AI. It lies in how precise decisions, actions and outcomes can become,” Miller commented.
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“By integrating AI models, businesses can use AI as a productivity multiplier. Combining AI models with deep organisational data creates a business-intelligent advisor, closing a critical visibility gap that can cost large organisations thousands of hours in status meetings and manual risk assessment.”
Enterprise audit and governance
Smartsheet stressed that every interaction with the MCP Server, whether initiated by a human or an AI agent, is logged and made available for audit.
The company positions this as a way for organisations to preserve existing governance and compliance requirements while scaling AI usage across their operations.
Julian Weber, Partner at AMX, described how the integration fits into the work his firm does with its own clients.
“For years, we’ve relied on Smartsheet to help our customers create transparency across complex, global project data. The native Claude integration builds on that foundation, bringing an AI layer that surfaces trends, risks and critical changes through simple, natural conversation based on live business data,” Weber outlined.
“That’s a meaningful shift in how teams operate and make decisions. The opportunity ahead is enormous: as we roll this out for our customers, we’re transforming how they act on their data at scale, enabling users to create intelligent, real-time insights – easier and faster than ever before.”
Availability
The Smartsheet MCP Server and Claude integration are available to customers now. Further details are available at smartsheet.com/ai.
Smartsheet is used by more than 120,000 customers globally and by teams in 85 per cent of the Fortune 500.
Last Updated on March 25, 2026 by Nick Ross
