Companies often invest in AI without understanding benefits of the technology

Companies often use artificial intelligence (AI) even though they do not fully understand the benefits that the technology brings them. The overriding goal is increased profitability, but in most cases this has not yet been achieved. These are some findings of a survey of 2,000 company bosses conducted by IBM worldwide over the last three months. However, it is only a minority that would rather be "fast and wrong" than "right and slow" when using AI.

The study by the IBM Institute for Business Value partly confirms a recent survey of German companies on the development of AI expertise. According to the study, four out of five companies have no plan to build up skills in dealing with AI. Nevertheless, eight out of ten companies believe that AI will make them competitive in industry, according to another survey of German industrial companies.

So far, only 25 percent of AI projects pay off

Looking to the future is also one of the positive aspects of the IBM study. The CEOs surveyed report that only 25 percent of all AI initiatives recently have generated the expected profits, and only 16 percent are using AI company-wide. However, 85 percent of CEOs expect investments in AI efficiency and the associated savings to pay off by 2027. 77 percent assume that the expansion of AI and growth will pay off in two years' time.

Currently, the picture is different. Only 52 percent of CEOs surveyed report that their organizations are currently benefiting from investments in AI – excluding cost reductions. 72 percent of CEOs believe that their own company data is the key to benefiting from generative AI. However, the path to this is rocky. Half of those surveyed admit that previous AI investments have led to non-networked, fragmented systems.

The reason is likely to be hasty AI investments in order not to miss out (FOMO – fear of missing out). 64 percent of company bosses admit to investing in new technologies (such as AI) before they are fully aware of the benefits for their organization. Nevertheless, only 37 percent of company managers are willing to take the wrong path when using new technology to be faster than the competition.

New jobs thanks to AI

This also has an impact on the workforce. 31 percent of companies state that employees will need to be retrained within the next three years. More than twice as many, namely 65 percent, want to use automated processes to close skills gaps. In addition, 54 percent of CEOs said they now need to fill new AI-related positions that did not exist a year ago.

The study by the IBM Institute for Business Value was conducted together with Oxford Economics. It surveyed 2,000 CEOs from 33 countries and 24 industries between February and April 2025.

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