Turning AI cost spikes into strategic growth opportunities
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Presented by Apptio, an IBM company AI spending is surging, but the full impact often remains an open question. Closing the gap requires clear answers to how AI is governed, measured, and tied to business outcomes.ROI uncertainty isn’t unique to AI: In the Apptio 2026 Technology Investment Management Report, 90% of technology leaders surveyed said that ROI uncertainty has a moderate or major impact on overall tech investment decisions, a 5-percentage point year-over-year increase. In other words, tech leaders are increasing their reliance on ROI – even if they don’t fully know how to measure it. And AI economics involves new and unpredictable costs, further complicating ROI calculations. Faced with increasing uncertainty and increasing budgets, technology leaders need a clear, reliable framework for evaluating AI ROI. Organizations increasingly expect scaled AI to pay its own way, at least partially. According to Apptio’s technology investment management report, 45% of organizations surveyed intend to fund innovation by reinvesting savings from AI-driven efficiencies. That model assumes that such savings are both achievable and quantifiable. Meanwhile, the two-thirds of organizations planning to reallocate existing budget capital to AI will need clarity on the trade-offs involved. Much like the early days of public cloud, AI costs and returns are difficult to predict. Pricing varies widely across providers and continues to evolve, while consumption is unpredictable. The pressure to adopt quickly is also formidable as organizations navigate the threat of disruption by more agile competitors. The new math of AI ROIConsidering the many variables, tech leaders should view AI ROI as a matter of optimization. At a high level, the implementation of AI initiatives is inevitable. The question is how to achieve the greatest possible returns — both financial and organizational. Start with the business problem. There are many ways AI can deliver positive impact, but organization