Why enterprises aren’t seeing AI ROI — and what CIOS can do about it

The report argues that enterprise AI is a transformative investment with projected rapid spending growth, but many organizations struggle to convert Board and CEO ambitions into measurable financial outcomes. It introduces ROAI (return on AI) as a discipline focusing on verifiable financial benefits and warns that failures are usually due to gaps in leadership, workforce readiness, and operating-model alignment rather than technical issues; Boards and CEOs are mandating enterprise AI implementation often without clear financial targets or accountability models.