As 2026 rolls in, ROI is stepping into the AI driver’s seat.
After three years of experimenting and spending, and as talk of an AI bubble looms, enterprises are starting to demand results. According to Kyndryl’s recent Readiness Report, drawing on insights from 3,700 business executives, 61% of CEOs say they are under increasing pressure to show returns on their AI investments compared with a year ago.
This is putting company leaders to the test in terms of balancing long-term innovation with the need to prove outcomes now, all while AI development continues to move at breakneck speed. It’s also creating risks of misalignment in the C-suite, with tech and business leaders looking out for their firm’s innovation while financial leaders look out for the balance sheet.
“The last year was a lot about experimental budgets, like, ‘I’m just going to give the budget to every department [and] experiment with whatever tools they think are useful,’” said Lexi Reese, a former strategy executive at firms including Google and the current CEO of AI observability platform Lanai. “Now, it’s accountable acceleration, because the price tag on this is very expensive.”
The AI spending spree
