Every board I sit in front of asks the same question: JP, how do you ensure the ROI of AI? I keep telling them it is the wrong question, and the data backs me up. The companies actually succeeding at AI are not the ones chasing a short-term financial return. They are the ones with a strategic vision centered on redesigning how the business works, and McKinsey's State of AI survey makes that visible.
The high performers are vision-driven, not ROI-driven
Only 6% of companies qualify as true AI performers. As I said in my note on why most AI transformations fail, what distinguishes them is that they are guided by vision, not just immediate return on investment. Top performers are 3.6 times more likely to target transformative growth and innovation rather than incremental cost-cutting.
Workflow redesign is the biggest driver of impact
The single biggest driver of measurable earnings impact is workflow redesign, not tool adoption. Half of the AI high performers intend to use AI to transform their businesses, and most are redesigning workflows around it. Companies that bolt AI onto existing processes capture the least of its value, which is exactly why I keep returning to foundations before magic.
Adoption is not scaling
Adoption has become nearly universal: 88% of organizations now use AI in at least one function. Yet two-thirds remain stuck in the pilot phase. The gap is not a lack of tools. It is a lack of operating model change, and no ROI framework will fix what only leadership vision and redesign can, the point I made in what enterprises need beyond pilots.
Leadership sponsorship changes the outcome
High-performing firms feature senior leaders who actively champion and role-model AI integration. When the CEO treats AI as the way the business runs rather than a project to be measured, the economics follow. Chasing ROI first inverts that order, and it is why so many programs stall at pilot.