Cover photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.
Ghost Investments
In 2026, Only 12% of CEO’s are seeing measurable returns on AI investments, according to Forbes, on a January press release from PwC.
The Problem
“Pilots generate insights but rarely drive execution, learning loops or measurable financial impact.” — Forbes Tech Council
The bottom line - the tech isn’t the problem, it’s the application. Let’s use Microsoft as an example.
As of October 2025, Microsoft had invested $13 billion in OpenAI and partnered with Databricks, to offer a simple product to their enterprise customers - Data Insights.
Microsoft built Co-Pilot into every app in their suite, to provide customers instant access to their data. It works, but does it really add value?
Insights are fantastic, but value and growth come from action.
Rethinking “Work” - The Real Value
The true value of technology is allowing us to do more by requiring us to work less.
IBM has adopted this approach, and reports that 64% of executives believe that growth will come from innovation, not resource optimization.
Think of a senior accountant, with incredible knowledge and insight of your company and industry, managing spreadsheets. Their value is not defined by their ability to manually manipulate data, their value is in their experience and decision making.
This is where AI becomes really powerful, when we pair it with automation to build Agentic Workflows. Think macros, but smarter, and connected.
- Sales robots which understand the customer’s needs
- File managers which keep your database clean
- Coordination agents which summarize tasks and send actionable items to responsible people
If you can imagine it, we can build it together.
Learn More
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PwC: 29th Annual Global CEO Survey: 2026 Press Release
The foundational study revealing that only 12% of CEOs are seeing measurable returns on AI investments this year. -
Forbes Tech Council: Why Most CEOs See No Return On AI Investments
An analysis of why AI pilots often fail to bridge the gap between technical insights and measurable financial impact. -
CNBC: Microsoft reports $13 billion investment in OpenAI
Financial breakdown of the strategic partnership and capital investment between Microsoft and OpenAI as of late 2025. -
IBM Newsroom: IBM Study: AI Poised to Drive Smarter Business Growth Through 2030
Research on how global executives are shifting focus from simple optimization to AI-driven innovation. -
IBM Think: What are Agentic Workflows?
A deep dive into the next evolution of AI: autonomous agents that move beyond chat to execute complex, multi-step tasks. -
Databricks: Databricks and Microsoft Extend Strategic Partnership Official announcement regarding the integration of Azure and Databricks to scale enterprise AI capabilities.