Overview
- Teneo’s new survey finds 68% of public-company CEOs plan to increase AI spending next year even though fewer than half of current projects have produced net positive returns.
- Expectations on payback are misaligned, with 84% of CEOs anticipating returns will take longer than six months while 53% of investors want results within six months.
- EY’s U.S. survey reports 96% of AI adopters see productivity gains—57% call them significant—and only 17% say those gains led to reduced headcount.
- Companies with productivity gains are channeling benefits into existing AI (47%), new AI development (42%), cybersecurity (41%), R&D (39%), and employee upskilling (38%).
- EY respondents plan larger allocations next year, with the share committing at least a quarter of IT budgets to AI rising from 27% in 2025 to 52% in 2026 and those spending half or more climbing to 19%.