Corporate enthusiasm for artificial intelligence remains enormous.
Corporate proof that the spending actually works?
Much harder to find.
Reuters Breakingviews reported from the 2026 Ai4 conference in Las Vegas, where more than 12,000 attendees gathered around enterprise AI. A KPMG survey cited in the analysis found that only 7% of executives could demonstrate returns from their AI investments. �
Reuters
Yet companies are not abandoning AI.
A Boston Consulting Group survey cited in the same analysis found 94% of executives still intend to keep investing. �
Reuters
That gap is fascinating:
7% can prove the return.
94% still want more.
Welcome to corporate FOMO with a very large invoice. 🤣
Why ROI Is So Difficult
Companies often measure AI through activity:
prompts sent,
employees trained,
copilots deployed,
pilots launched,
documents generated.
None of those automatically represents business value.
A useful ROI metric asks whether AI:
reduced processing cost,
increased sales,
shortened delivery time,
reduced mistakes,
improved customer retention,
or allowed employees to complete more valuable work.
AI adoption without measurement can easily become technological theatre.
Why Businesses Keep Spending Anyway
Executives face another risk: doing nothing while competitors improve.
AI therefore creates a strategic fear that can be summarised as:
“I cannot prove this investment yet, but I am terrified of discovering in three years that I should have started today.”
That fear is not completely irrational.
Transformational technology often requires experimentation before the best applications are understood.
The danger comes when experimentation has no financial discipline.
Mary Chuks’ Perspective
This is the difference between AI hype and Practical AI.
Do not begin with:
“Where can I insert AI?”
Begin with:
“Which expensive, repetitive or slow problem am I trying to improve?”
Measure that process before AI.
Deploy the tool.
Measure it again.
If nothing meaningful improves, the AI project is decoration.
Conclusion
AI does not need to justify itself through impressive demonstrations forever.
Businesses are entering the stage where finance departments want receipts.
The next AI winners will not merely say:
“We use AI.”
They will say:
“Here is exactly what it saved, earned or improved.” �
Reuters