Firms struggling to prove AI investment is paying off, research finds

More than four in five UK businesses say that at least some of their AI spending has delivered no measurable return, or that they don’t measure the return at all, according to new research from Air IT Group.

The IT services provider surveyed 504 decision makers at UK organisations.

It found that 83 per cent fell into one of those two groups.

Air IT Group calls this the ‘AI Decision Gap’. It describes the gap between investing in AI and having the evidence to judge whether that investment is delivering value, and where to invest next.

The research found that 41 per cent of organisations had bought or introduced an AI tool before agreeing what problem it should solve.

Among respondents with at least one active AI project, 74 per cent said not all of their projects had both an agreed business objective and a way of measuring success.

The findings suggest that many businesses, under pressure to move quickly on AI, are investing before they have a clear plan.

Air IT said this raises questions about how far AI spending is delivering the productivity gains the government is seeking to unlock.

Almost half of respondents (47 per cent) said AI had made at least one task or process take longer once checking, correction, setup and management were taken into account.

Only 13 per cent said their organisation consistently turned time saved through AI into measurably higher output or productivity.

Among organisations that formally track AI pilots, 62 per cent had abandoned at least one in the previous 12 months.

The most common reasons given were integration difficulties (34 per cent) and staff not adopting the tools (29 per cent).

Lee Johnson (pictured), chief technology officer at Air IT Group, said: “AI has huge potential for businesses, but simply introducing more tools doesn’t guarantee better outcomes.

“Our research found that 41 per cent of organisations had introduced an AI tool before agreeing what problem it should solve.

“If the problem and the outcome aren’t clear from the outset, it becomes much harder to know whether AI is actually delivering value.

“Businesses need to start with what they’re trying to achieve, identify where AI can make the biggest difference and agree how success will be measured. That gives leaders the evidence to decide what to scale, what to rethink and where to invest next.”

Air IT Group launched its AI Accelerator programme in September. The service is designed to help small and medium-sized businesses decide where and how to invest in AI.

The full report, The AI Decision Gap, is available to download.