Enterprise AI investments are forging ahead despite elusive ROI

The question many enterprises are asking themselves in 2026 is whether they are transforming their businesses fast enough to see the benefits of new technologies, most notably AI.

The answer, according to PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey: Not really — at least, not yet.

In fact, the majority of enterprises aren’t seeing any real revenue increase or cost reduction as the result of AI deployments; only about one-third have seen any tangible benefits from AI in the last 12 months.

“CEOs are forging ahead with investment in AI even though immediate returns are often elusive,” PwC said in its report based on a survey of 4,450 CEOs across 95 countries and territories.

CEOs eager, but approaching AI tentatively

AI is advancing at an unparalleled pace, causing “excitement and anxiety in equal measure,” PwC noted.

The majority (69%) of CEOs surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that their organizational culture and technical environment enable AI adoption, and 51% agreed or strongly agreed that they had a clearly-defined roadmap for AI initiatives. However, “there is a gap emerging between leadership, aspiration, and execution,” PwC’s global chairman, Mohamed Kande, observed in a video accompanying the survey.

Some examples:

• More than half (56%) of CEOs have not realized either revenue or cost benefits from AI. Roughly one-third (30%) have measured tangible revenue increases, and just one-quarter (26%) are seeing lower costs thanks to AI;
• Only 40% say their level of investment is sufficient to meet their AI goals;
• Just over half have formal responsible AI and risk processes;
• Only about 30% grant their main AI tool access to all their documents and data;
• Just 42% believe they have the ability to attract high-quality technical AI talent;

PwC identified just one in eight companies as being in the “vanguard,” meaning they are achieving both additional revenues and lower costs as they apply AI extensively across their business. A “relatively small portion” of CEOs are applying AI to a significant extent to demand generation (22%); support services (20%); products, services, and experiences (19%); direction-setting (15%); or demand fulfilment (13%).

Guard against ‘innovation theater’

“Isolated, tactical AI projects often don’t deliver measurable value,” PwC noted. Measurable returns come from enterprise-scale deployment consistent with corporate strategy, and CEOs need to guard against what’s known as “innovation theater:” activities that “resemble innovation but produce no tangible value.”

To gauge innovation maturity, PwC asked CEOs about six “innovation-friendly practices.”

Do they:

• View innovation as a critical component of their overall business strategy?
• Collaborate with external partners to accelerate innovation?
• Test new ideas rapidly with customers or end-users?
• Tolerate high risk in innovation projects?
• Have routine processes to stop underperforming R&D projects?
• Have a defined innovation center, incubator, or corporate venturing division

Alarmingly, less than one in ten (8%) said their company had adopted at least five of those six practices to a large or very large extent.

“If innovation is part of your strategy, put real structure behind it, from how you test new ideas to how you scale what works,” said Kande. “Don’t do it alone: Partnerships and new forms of collaboration can speed up what you are able to bring to market.”

Issues with trust, concerns around cybersecurity

Trust is a cornerstone of business, but it can be increasingly difficult to come by due to a multitude of factors. Two-thirds (66%) of CEOs surveyed by PwC dealt with trust concerns in the last year around topics such as data use and privacy (38%), transparency (38%), and responsible AI and AI safety (37%).

At the same time, CEOs have become increasingly concerned about a range of near-term threats, notably technology disruption and cyber risk. About one third (31%) see their company as highly or extremely exposed to significant financial loss from cybersecurity threats. This is up 10% from just two years ago. As a result, about eight in 10 say they plan to improve their enterprise’s cybersecurity practices.

“Trust isn’t an intangible soft topic,” PwC emphasized. “Value is at stake.” Therefore, it should be prioritized as a boardroom topic and built and preserved through investments in data, processes, and controls.

CEOs need to rethink their calendars

There’s no doubt that CEOs have a lot to think about, and they must divide their time between short, medium, and long-term issues. But, according to PwC, they may not be using their time all that wisely.

CEOs surveyed said they spend almost half (47%) of their time on issues with horizons of less than a year. They then focus about a third of their time on activities with one to less than five year horizons, and just 16% on those with longer-term horizons of five years or more.

“Are they striking the right balance? It’s a question CEOs should ask themselves as they strive to build organizations to thrive both today and tomorrow,” PwC advised.

Dovetailing with this, just 30% of CEOs are confident about their company’s revenue growth over the next 12 months. That’s down from 38% last year and almost half of the peak of 56% in 2022.

Many leaders struggle with what PwC calls “the tyranny of the urgent,” leading them to spend too much time looking through a microscope, rather than through a telescope centered on long-term business goals.

It’s impossible to generalize how CEOs should focus their time, PwC conceded, and crisis situations are inevitable. But leaders are counterintuitively focusing on short-term activities even as they clearly identify that mid- to long-term enterprise viability is one of their most pressing issues.

“If these leaders are serious about reinvention, they may need to reinvent how they invest their time,” PwC noted. “The challenge facing CEOs at this critical moment is to decide, in conjunction with their top team and board, how the company’s value-creation recipe needs to change for the decade of innovation and industry reconfiguration ahead.”