Companies are spending heavily on AI, but many are still struggling to turn that investment into measurable business results. One reason is that they’re overlooking the middle office, where work such as contract review, compliance, risk management, and accounts payable still requires a lot of human judgment. Accenture and Google research suggests this is where some of the biggest near-term opportunities lie. Companies can capture them by finding processes where difficult cases still get handed to experts, building AI systems that learn from those experts as they work, and measuring whether AI actually reduces those escalations. The final step is making sure the time AI saves gets put to good use, freeing experts to focus on complex decisions, relationships, and higher-value work.