Skip to content
RegainFlow
Free Assessment

Report · August 2026

The AI ROI Problem

Why returns on AI are hard to measure, why costs run away, why adoption stalls, and what to do about all three.

Cover of The AI ROI Problem
Published
August 2026
Length
14 pages
Audio
4:36

What it found

  1. 01

    42% of enterprises scrapped most of their AI initiatives in 2025, against 17% the year before, and the average company killed 46% of its proofs of concept before production.

  2. 02

    If you didn't define success criteria before you deployed, whatever ROI number you produce afterward is a story. There's nothing underneath it to check.

  3. 03

    AI is priced by a meter that responds to nearly everything, so 73% of enterprises exceeded their original cost projections. Budget the subscription alone and you land at two to three times what you expected.

  4. 04

    Automating a step moves the constraint to review and rework rather than removing it, which is why 10x claims break on a full workflow and 2-3x is the strong, realistic outcome.

  5. 05

    Nearly half of U.S. workers never use the AI their employer deployed, while around 90% reach for personal AI tools anyway. The problem is tools that don't fit the work.

Audio overview

4:36

The report as a conversation — the same findings, discussed. Useful if you would rather listen on the drive than read at a desk.

--:--4:36

Read the full report

Tell us where to send it, and it opens.

One address, once. Every report we publish opens for you after this. We do not run a newsletter and we do not pass this on.

← All reports

More reports

Start with the opportunity

Bring us the opportunity.

We’ll help determine whether it is worth funding and what it will take.

Free AssessmentContact Us