How Connected Search Eliminates Silos With Unified, Actionable Knowledge

Modern workers are overwhelmed by a relentless flood of information scattered across countless apps and platforms.

Fragmented workflows lead to missed deadlines, repeated work, and unnecessary spending, creating compounding costs for organizations.

• Studies reveal that employees spend 30% of their workday searching for information, toggling between tools, and recreating lost context. (IDC Research)
• Even worse, these inefficiencies According to a McKinsey report, inefficient workflows cost organizations 20-30% of their annual revenue. (McKinsey Report)

Here’s the good news: there’s a way out of this chaos. ClickUp’s Connected Search is transforming how teams work by breaking down silos, eliminating app-switching, and turning scattered data into actionable insights—all in real time.

Unlike other solutions, ClickUp embeds search where work happens, seamlessly connecting knowledge to actions within your Workspace.

The result? Faster decisions, smarter collaboration, and a unified source of truth for your organization.

When teams rely on disconnected tools, they unintentionally create knowledge silos—pockets of information locked away in inaccessible systems.

These silos force employees to:

• Toggle endlessly between apps like Slack, email, and project tools to find what they need.
• Lose hours recreating context or duplicating work because of outdated or missing information.
• Suffer delays in collaboration and decision-making as critical data remains trapped in isolated systems.

The operational, financial, and human costs of fragmented tools and information silos are staggering:

• 2.5 hours/day: Knowledge workers spend approximately 30% of their workday searching for information. (IDC Research)
• 3,600 toggles/day: Employees switch between apps and windows more than 3,600 times daily, wasting 4 hours per week reorienting themselves. (Harvard Business Review)
• 9.5 minutes lost: Every app switch disrupts focus, taking nearly 10 minutes to get back on track. (University of California, Irvine Study)
• $420,000 annually: A study by SHRM found that organizations with 100 employees lose this amount annually due to miscommunication and disconnected tools. (SHRM Report)
• 20-30% of revenue: McKinsey estimates that inefficient workflows cost organizations up to 30% of their annual revenue. (McKinsey Report)

These inefficiencies ripple across teams, creating compounding costs in lost time, morale, and budgets—an unsustainable burden for any organization.

ClickUp’s Connected Search doesn’t just unify workflows—it transforms how teams collaborate.

By addressing both the technical and cultural aspects of work, ClickUp empowers organizations to break free from the cycle of inefficiencies and achieve compounding gains in productivity, collaboration, and decision-making.

How ClickUp’s Connected Search transforms collaboration

Unified search across applications

• Access all enterprise information from one platform, eliminating the need for app-switching.
• Save up to 9% of your workweek—nearly 4 hours—by avoiding unnecessary toggling.

AI-Powered relevance and personalization

• Leverage advanced AI to deliver context-aware, personalized search results tailored to your projects.
• Improve decision-making with instant access to the most relevant insights.

Enhanced collaboration and knowledge sharing

• Bridge knowledge gaps by making critical information accessible and actionable for all teams.
• Accelerate onboarding and foster continuous learning with centralized resources.

Seamless integration with existing tools

• Connect to enterprise applications, including Google Drive, Sharepoint, Figma, and Slack, without the need for complex setup.

Enterprise-grade security and compliance

• Protect sensitive data with industry-leading security features, connected sharing controls, and SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

While building an in-house AI-powered search tool may sound appealing, the reality is far from simple.

Many companies that choose to build their own solutions eventually migrate to pre-built platforms to cut costs and regain focus on their core competencies.

Here’s why buying ClickUp Connected Search is a smarter choice:

ClickUp AI and Connected Search provide admins the ability to share access to only what each user is permitted to see.

Admins should review what is shared and how, especially when connecting and searching data from different sources. They can ensure that the data they choose to share is shared safely, and private data remains private.

Security and Privacy Commitment

ClickUp is committed to providing a robust security and privacy program that safeguards data across its platform.

This includes robust security measures, ensuring compliance with industry standards, and continuously monitoring for potential threats.

To ensure security and data management, and to enable safe data sharing, ClickUp's AI-powered Connected Search implements the following protections.

Access Permissions

• Connection Sharing Options: Users can establish personal connections which are private and only share search content with the user.  Admins can manage Workspace connections and share search content to all users.
• Role-Based Access: Connected searches can only reference indexed data that the connected account has access to. If the connected account cannot access the data in the connected system, the user (or Workspace) will not be able to access it with ClickUp AI and Connected Search.
• Workspace Connection Data Filtering: For Workspace connections, we add a step to automatically filter private files, even if the connected account has access. This filtering depends on and is different for each connected system. (for supported Workspace connection types i.e. Box file properties, Confluence group settings, etc).
• User Role Permissions: Private content inside of ClickUp is not accessible to unauthorized users via Search or AI. Your ClickUp users only can access ClickUp content that has been shared with them when they use AI or Search.
• Sharing Controls: ClickUp Admins can even further filter data directly within ClickUp through Connected Search configuration options. This filtering depends on and is different for each connected system. (for supported Workspace connection types i.e. Google Drive file properties, GitHub repos, location selectors, Figma URLs, etc)
• Limit Sharing: Connected-System IT Admins can manage Workspace connection data access using system users (service accounts). Data access is fully managed by the connected system. Individual users can use their work accounts to access private data in Connected Search.
• Access Syncing: Access and permission changes in a connected system are automatically updated in the data indexed.
• OAuth Authentication: Standardized logins when the 3rd party integration supports this method.
• Enablement: Control Connected Search as a ClickApp by Owners and Admins.

AI Data Privacy

• ClickUp does not build or train AI models. The models we do use do not learn from customer data, ensuring privacy.
• A zero-day retention policy ensures customer data is not stored by AI providers like OpenAI.
• AI bias is mitigated by the AI provider, details for OpenAI here.
• ClickUp abides by the GDPR and CCPA.

Data Security

• Encryption: TLS 1.2+ secures data in transit; AES 256 protects data at rest.
• Certifications: SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and PCI DSS compliance ensure top-tier security.
• Security Testing: Ongoing internal and external penetration testing is conducted, supported by an external bug bounty program.
• Data Retention: Indexed data is retained until the account is deleted or the third-party connection is removed.

What is a Search Index?

Indexing means that assets are ingested from connected integrations in an organized manner so it can be quickly and easily searched.

What is indexed for Connected Search?

• ClickUp assets & objects. Assets include Tasks, Docs, Whiteboards, Dashboards, Chat, Spaces, Folders, Lists, and Attachments.
• Third party integration objects. This includes items such as documents, spreadsheets, slides, PDFs, Folders, etc. (dependent on the object access that the user who created the connection). i.e. if the user who setup the connection can see the data in a connected tool and it's a type of data we look for, then it will be indexed for their search.

ClickUp’s Connected Search is more than a tool—it’s a revolution in how teams work.

By unifying enterprise knowledge and fostering connected workflows, ClickUp empowers organizations to unlock their full potential, driving smarter collaboration, faster decisions, and compounding gains in efficiency.

Reimagine the way you work

• Start for free: Discover the power of AI-driven Connected Search today.
• See it in action: Book a demo and experience ClickUp firsthand.

Let’s build the future of work—together.