A whopping 3% of boardroom execs spy productivity and costs savings from AI

Only about one in five employees' time is freed-up by AI, allowing them to pivot toward more innovative tasks, according to findings from the HR Symposium.

Researchers at Gartner revealed that while three-quarters of corporate board members anticipate AI delivering cost reductions and productivity increases, only three percent of organizations have actually achieved these goals.

The analyst symposium also reported that 38 percent of firms are currently exceeding their budgets for AI expenditures, and a further 85 percent intend to increase spending next year.

"Ultimately, organizations will not generate cost savings from AI at this point," stated CV Viverito, senior director analyst for Gartner's HR practice. He added, "The greater opportunity is to use AI to do things that weren't possible before, such as shifting employee time into new capabilities, outcomes, and sources of growth."

Gartner further suggests that at least 75 percent of business leaders are misaligned with the wider company regarding where AI creates value, which hinders transformation and obscures how to position staff for returns.

Advising that companies focus AI efforts on the most crucial business functions, Gartner recommends HR assist executives in agreeing upon top priorities based on strategy. Furthermore, firms should distribute existing AI skills across the business rather than solely waiting to hire specialized experts, and grant managers latitude to redesign roles around the new technology.

Viverito claimed, "There isn’t a struggle to create capacity, that’s happening already as organizations redesign work. What organizations are struggling with is how to make that capacity usable and redirecting it to what is valuable."

The difficulty in realizing AI project returns is greater than anticipated, suggesting companies must commit to the changes in work processes and staff operations before tangible benefits appear.

A separate Forrester report concluded that AI is expected to constitute 20 percent of all business technology spending next year, yet over half of CIOs are likely to miss their ROI targets for the technology.

Moreover, KPMG research from earlier this year showed that most UK business leaders plan to keep AI a top spending priority, with 65 percent maintaining investment regardless of immediate measurable returns. Apollo Global Management recently raised concerns, observing that the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants are benefiting from AI investment, while the rest of the S&P 500 shows no sign of productivity gains from AI.