Only 61% of companies in an IDC study reported high confidence in measuring AI’s business value and return on investment. Microsoft published the findings of the research it commissioned, involving more than 5,200 leaders across 28 industries.
Agent-governance processes were reported by 65% of organisations. Only 20% had a comprehensive workforce training strategy.
These are survey responses, not independent audits of each company’s financial performance. An association between adoption maturity and reported returns does not prove that AI caused additional profit.
For businesses, measurement starts with defining the intended outcome. Time saved, lower costs and higher revenue require different metrics. Counting only response-generation speed can overlook verification costs, error correction and the work needed to integrate a tool into operations.
