A whopping 3% of boardroom execs spy productivity and costs savings from AI

What happened

Researchers at Gartner reported that most board members expect AI to make work faster and cheaper. But only three percent of organizations have reached their targets. The findings came from Gartner's HR Symposium, an event for human resources leaders. Gartner's analyst CV Viverito said companies will not save money from AI at this point. She said the bigger chance is to use AI to do new things.

Key numbers

• Three-quarters of corporate board members expect AI to bring productivity gains and cost cuts.
• Only 3% of organizations have hit their AI targets.
• 38% of companies are over budget on AI spending.
• 85% still plan to spend even more next year.
• Only about 1 in 5 employees have time freed up by AI.

Some context

A Forrester report says AI may make up 20% of all business tech spending next year. Yet more than half of CIOs (the leaders in charge of a company's computer systems) may miss their return-on-investment, or ROI, goals. A KPMG study found that 65% of UK business leaders plan to keep investing in AI even without clear, measurable returns.

Why it matters

Many companies are paying a lot for AI without seeing clear gains yet. Gartner says they must change how people work and train staff before the benefits show up. Private equity firm Apollo Global Management also doubts the payoff. It says only the largest tech companies, the "Magnificent Seven," are seeing gains, while the rest of the S&P 500 index shows no clear boost to productivity.

What to watch

• Whether companies keep increasing AI budgets in 2027.
• Whether companies can turn freed-up employee time into useful new work.
• Whether more firms reach their AI return targets.
• How long business leaders keep investing without clear results.