In the knowledge economy, every enterprise is expected to use AI. For CIOs, this technology has become the #1 IT investment priority for the next two years, bringing a sea of opportunity along with unprecedented risks.
But while enterprises pour millions into transforming how business gets done, they are at the same time-wasting budget dollars, making strategic mistakes, and even seeing reputational consequences. Why? They don’t have a system to measure which AI investments are delivering real ROI.
According to a recent survey from my company, Prosper Insights & Analytics, roughly 30% of the workforce uses AI on a regular basis. Among business owners and executives, the number jumps to almost 50%.
While adoption grows and usage expands, Larridin’s State of Enterprise AI 2026 research reveals that 62% of senior leaders lack a comprehensive inventory of applications in use across the organization. Think about it; AI is the #1 investment priority for IT, but nearly two-thirds of senior leaders don’t even know what AI applications they have. Only 16% track investment versus benefit, needed to calculate ROI.