Artificial Intelligence Brings Greatest Return on Investment to These Three Business Areas
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making a significant impact on various sectors. A new report by TAG Analysts reveals that data analysis is the function with the highest expected return on investment (ROI) from AI usage.
Rick Caccia, CEO of WitnessAI, notes that employees are using more AI applications than company leaders anticipate, making it challenging to accurately measure the value generated by AI. This underscores the need for a more nuanced approach to understanding and harnessing the potential of AI in businesses.
AI shines where inputs are consistent, data is plentiful, and the work can be done at scale. In manufacturing, AI improves output through predictive maintenance, robotics, and automation, reducing downtime. Customer service also benefits from AI, boosting satisfaction through chatbots, personalization, and smart routing, while lowering labor requirements.
The manufacturing and customer service sectors, along with data analysis, have shown promising results in the ROI from AI usage. Companies have achieved the highest success with AI integration in direct sales, where 38% of companies actively invest in AI applications, leading to increased efficiency and better responses to customer needs.
In the manufacturing sector, concepts like Mitsubishi Electric’s Smart Manufacturing Kaizen Level are facilitating stepwise digital transformation and productivity improvements. In the technology and logistics sectors, especially in the US and China, AI-driven humanoid robots are increasingly used to enhance productivity and customer service.
However, it's not just about the ROI. Confidence in the potential of AI tools remains high: 85% of CEOs expect efficiency-focused AI investments to deliver positive ROI by 2027, and 77% expect the same for AI growth initiatives. The real differentiator across business sectors will be how quickly leaders transition from proof of concept to scaled adoption in the areas that matter most.
Yet, the road to AI integration is not without its challenges. The IBM's 2025 CEO Study found that only 25% of AI initiatives hit their expected ROI in the past three years, and just 16% have scaled enterprise-wide. Gil Spencer, CTO of WitnessAI, advises treating AI as a core driver of business, not an add-on to existing tools, for compounding returns.
To ensure the return from AI usage is not just real, but also repeatable, companies should select the right starting points, track the relevant metrics, and incorporate safety and governance into the plan from the outset. Advice for leaders is to enable AI use with specific safety rails and guidelines instead of banning it outright.
According to Prosper Insights & Analytics, 50.2% of surveyed executives and 43.6% of business owners already use AI in their daily work. With AI woven into core processes, it has a multiplying effect, while kept at the edges, its impact is incremental at best. The future of AI in business is promising, but it requires a strategic, thoughtful approach to fully realise its potential.
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