88% Of AI Pilots Fail To Reach Production - But That's Not All On IT
CIO, Monday, April 14th, 2025
Unclear objectives, insufficient data readiness, and a lack of in-house expertise are sinking many AI proofs of concept. So too are zealous POC greenlighting and misguided pressure from the top.
The proof of concept (POC) has become a key facet of CIOs' AI strategies, providing a low-stakes way to test AI use cases without full commitment.
But as enterprises increasingly experience pilot fatigue and pivot toward seeking practical results from their efforts, learnings from these experiments won't be enough - the process itself may need to produce more targeted success rates.
Recent research from IDC, undertaken in partnership with Lenovo, found that 88% of observed POCs don't make the cut to widescale deployment. For every 33 AI POCs a company launched, only four graduated to production, IDC found.