What CIOs Need To Know About Measuring AI Value
CIO, Wednesday, August 6th, 2025
Even though many companies report positive ROI from gen AI, IT leaders don't always know how to actually measure it, and the vast majority of AI projects fail. So what's the real story, and what metrics are important to gauge AI success?
There's a wealth of information about the high failure rates of AI projects while, simultaneously, an equally large number of surveys show that many, if not most, companies are already reporting positive business benefits and ROI from their AI investments.
For example, a global study of 2,000 CEOs IBM released in May says only 25% of AI initiatives delivered expected ROI, and only 16% have scaled enterprise-wide. In another, Wakefield Research, on behalf of Informatica, found 67% of 600 business leaders say they're unable to successfully transition even half of their gen AI pilots to production, and 97% say they're having trouble demonstrating the business value of their pilots. But other surveys seem to show the opposite.