University of Kwazulu-Natal

Achieving Ai Roi In 2026 How To Close The Ai Hype Gap And Achieve Real

Bonisiwe Shabane
-
achieving ai roi in 2026 how to close the ai hype gap and achieve real

AI ROI is low, but AI hype is high. In this blog post, discover how to close the hype gap and achieve real business outcomes — from 2,100% ROI in one year to $6.6M in additional revenue. When enterprises achieve AI ROI, the impact is transformative: These outcomes are the result of disciplined use case selection, business case modeling, and organizational alignment with the right technology foundation. AI is everywhere. Investment and hype are at record highs, but for many businesses, the promise of AI has yet to translate into real business outcomes.

In fact, a recent MIT Report showed that 95% of AI projects failed to deliver ROI. For the last 24 months, we’ve been living through a period of collective euphoria. Generative AI was magic, and every company, large and small, scrambled to experiment. We built chatbots, generated images, and held countless "hackathons" to showcase what this incredible technology could do. Budgets were approved based on excitement and the fear of being left behind. That party is now over.

The CFO has entered the room, holding the bill for massive compute costs, new software licenses, and expensive talent. The C-suite is no longer asking, "What can it do?" They are asking, "What is the ROI?" Welcome to the "AI ROI Cliff." It's the moment where "potential" meets the "P&L statement," and as Gartner’s Hype Cycle predicts, we are falling squarely into the "Trough of Disillusionment." 2026 will be the... Why is this reckoning happening so suddenly? Because most companies are stuck in "Pilot Purgatory." They have successfully run dozens of experiments but have failed to translate them into real, scalable, industrial-grade operations. The companies that survive the ROI Cliff will be those that make a critical strategic pivot: from Experimentation (playing with AI) to Exploitation (profitably deploying AI).

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. The AI hype fueled by the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 has only accelerated. Organizations, however, have yet to see much ROI on their mounting investment in the technology -- but experts say that wait may be over in the new year. Based on promises of AI's potential to dramatically optimize operations through new developments in the space, including models that are smarter, cheaper, multimodal, better at reasoning, and even autonomous, business leaders have funneled money... Global corporate AI investment reached $252.3 billion in 2024, and US private AI investment hit $109.1 billion, according to Stanford data -- it's safe to assume those numbers will only continue to grow. Also: Why AI agents failed to take over in 2025 - it's 'a story as old as time,' says Deloitte

But a look back at 2025 reveals a common thread: AI's potential to dramatically optimize operations has not yet been realized across the board. Most memorably, a now-infamous MIT study found that 95% of businesses weren't seeing an ROI from their generative AI spend, with only 5% of integrated AI pilots extracting millions in value. While the criteria for returns are narrowly defined, which partially explains the high percentage, it is still indicative of a wider trend. As 2026 rolls in, ROI is stepping into the AI driver’s seat. After three years of experimenting and spending, and as talk of an AI bubble looms, enterprises are starting to demand results. According to Kyndryl’s recent Readiness Report, drawing on insights from 3,700 business executives, 61% of CEOs say they are under increasing pressure to show returns on their AI investments compared with a year ago.

This is putting company leaders to the test in terms of balancing long-term innovation with the need to prove outcomes now, all while AI development continues to move at breakneck speed. It’s also creating risks of misalignment in the C-suite, with tech and business leaders looking out for their firm’s innovation while financial leaders look out for the balance sheet. “The last year was a lot about experimental budgets, like, ‘I’m just going to give the budget to every department [and] experiment with whatever tools they think are useful,’” said Lexi Reese, a former... “Now, it’s accountable acceleration, because the price tag on this is very expensive.” The unprecedented amount of money being spent to develop and deploy AI has been grabbing headlines all year. Much of this surrounds infrastructure spending by frontier AI labs and eye-popping startup investments, but enterprises are heavily investing, too.

Gartner expects spending on AI application software to more than triple from last year to almost $270 billion in 2026. Over the past year, Reese said she’s had conversations with over 300 customers about their AI tool costs and found they are spending between $590 and $1,400 per employee annually, according to internal data... AI's Reckoning: From Hype to Harsh Realities In a revealing glimpse into the future, the Platformer article forecasts a significant shift for AI in 2026. As the hype subsides, AI will transition from an innovation marvel to a measured utility under immense market and regulatory pressures. With major players like OpenAI and Google at the forefront, this landscape will be defined by demands for measurable ROI, stricter governance, and new market dynamics favoring those who integrate AI with real business...

For years, artificial intelligence has lived in a strange place. A massive source of hype.A playground for innovators.A line item on boardroom agendas. But not—until now—a core operating system for modern businesses. Across every major study from McKinsey, Accenture, Deloitte, MIT, Gartner, and the Stanford AI Index, one truth keeps showing up:AI has officially crossed the adoption threshold… but not the scale threshold. And that gap—between experimentation and enterprise-wide execution—will determine the winners and losers of the next decade. The promise of agentic AI has been massive, autonomous systems that act, reason, and make business decisions, but most enterprises are still struggling to see results.

In this episode, host Chris Brandt sits down with Sumeet Arora, Chief Product Officer at Teradata, to unpack why the gap exists between AI hype and actual impact, and what it takes to make... From the shift toward “AI with ROI” to the new era of human + AI systems and data quality challenges, Sumeet shares how leading enterprises are moving from flashy demos to measurable value and... 06:05 Redesigning the Human AI Interface 09:15 From Demos to Real Economic Outcomes How C-Suite Leaders Can Transform AI Experiments into Measurable Business Value. This blog is based on NStarX engagements with various enterprises through their AI journey

The boardroom conversations have shifted. What began as excited discussions about AI’s transformative potential in 2024 has evolved into more sobering questions about actual returns. As we enter 2026, C-suite leaders face a critical juncture: How do we move beyond the pilot phase and create systematic, measurable value from our AI investments? The numbers tell a compelling story. While 58% of data and AI leaders claim their organizations have achieved “exponential productivity gains” from AI, the gap between aspiration and measurement reality has become impossible to ignore. It’s time for a more disciplined approach.

The convergence of market research and executive priorities has crystallized around three critical investment areas that will define competitive advantage in 2026: Current enterprise AI initiatives cluster around four strategic areas, each with distinct ROI characteristics:

People Also Search

AI ROI Is Low, But AI Hype Is High. In

AI ROI is low, but AI hype is high. In this blog post, discover how to close the hype gap and achieve real business outcomes — from 2,100% ROI in one year to $6.6M in additional revenue. When enterprises achieve AI ROI, the impact is transformative: These outcomes are the result of disciplined use case selection, business case modeling, and organizational alignment with the right technology founda...

In Fact, A Recent MIT Report Showed That 95% Of

In fact, a recent MIT Report showed that 95% of AI projects failed to deliver ROI. For the last 24 months, we’ve been living through a period of collective euphoria. Generative AI was magic, and every company, large and small, scrambled to experiment. We built chatbots, generated images, and held countless "hackathons" to showcase what this incredible technology could do. Budgets were approved bas...

The CFO Has Entered The Room, Holding The Bill For

The CFO has entered the room, holding the bill for massive compute costs, new software licenses, and expensive talent. The C-suite is no longer asking, "What can it do?" They are asking, "What is the ROI?" Welcome to the "AI ROI Cliff." It's the moment where "potential" meets the "P&L statement," and as Gartner’s Hype Cycle predicts, we are falling squarely into the "Trough of Disillusionment." 20...

Follow ZDNET: Add Us As A Preferred Source On Google.

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. The AI hype fueled by the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 has only accelerated. Organizations, however, have yet to see much ROI on their mounting investment in the technology -- but experts say that wait may be over in the new year. Based on promises of AI's potential to dramatically optimize operations through new developments in the spa...

But A Look Back At 2025 Reveals A Common Thread:

But a look back at 2025 reveals a common thread: AI's potential to dramatically optimize operations has not yet been realized across the board. Most memorably, a now-infamous MIT study found that 95% of businesses weren't seeing an ROI from their generative AI spend, with only 5% of integrated AI pilots extracting millions in value. While the criteria for returns are narrowly defined, which partia...