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AI ROI statistics 2026, with every source.

Every widely quoted figure on AI returns, from Gartner, KPMG, BCG, Deloitte, PwC, IBM, McKinsey and MIT, with its date, its sample and what it measured.

Novamind Labs

Topic
AI ROI
Product
Novie Control
Format
Guide
Reading time
4 min
Published
5 November 2026
In short

The most reliable AI ROI statistics of 2026 point the same way: adoption is close to universal and a clear financial return is still a minority result. 13 percent of CIOs told Gartner they had realised significant value from AI. 56 percent of CEOs told PwC they had seen no significant financial benefit. KPMG found established ROI at 15 percent where AI costs are fully visible and 3 percent where they are not.

Each figure below names its publisher, its date, its sample and what it measured, because the same topic produces very different numbers depending on the question asked. We read every source on 5 November 2026 and will update this page each quarter.

AI returns: who reports value.

FindingSourceDateSample
13 percent of CIOs say their enterprise has realised significant or transformational value from AI.GartnerOctober 20262,002 CIOs and technology executives
Almost 50 percent of companies now generate value from AI: 7.5 percent future-built and 41 percent scaling.BCG Applied AI IndexSeptember 20261,330 executives
56 percent of CEOs have seen no significant financial benefit from AI to date. 12 percent report both lower costs and higher revenue.PwC Global CEO SurveyJanuary 20264,454 CEOs
66 percent report productivity gains from AI and 20 percent are growing revenue through it, against 74 percent who hope to.Deloitte, State of AI in the EnterpriseJanuary 20263,235 leaders
15 percent see significant, measurable ROI from generative AI and 10 percent from agentic AI.DeloitteOctober 20251,854 executives in Europe and the Middle East
74 percent of enterprises that measure generative AI ROI report a positive return.Wharton and GBK CollectiveOctober 2025800+ US decision-makers
72 percent of CIOs say their organisation is breaking even or losing money on AI.GartnerOctober 2025506 CIOs
39 percent attribute any EBIT impact to AI, most of them under 5 percent. About 6 percent are high performers.McKinsey, State of AINovember 2025Global online survey
25 percent of AI initiatives delivered the expected ROI over recent years, and 16 percent scaled enterprise wide.IBM Institute for Business ValueMay 20252,000 CEOs
PwC, Deloitte, IBM, BCG and McKinsey, 2025 to 2026.

TakeawayBetween 6 and 25 percent report a clear return, depending on whose definition you use, and BCG sees the share generating some value approaching half.

AI costs and cost control.

FindingSourceDateSample
Established ROI is 15 percent with full visibility of AI operating costs, against 3 percent without.KPMG Global AI Pulse Q2June 20262,145 senior leaders
49 percent have rephased AI agent deployments when costs began to outweigh expected value: 24 percent scaled back and 25 percent delayed or paused.KPMG Global AI Pulse Q2June 20262,145 senior leaders
35 percent have full visibility of AI operating costs, 54 percent require cost reviews in AI approvals and 40 percent have usage or token budgets.KPMG Global AI Pulse Q2June 20262,145 senior leaders
About 11 percent of functions did not know what they spent on AI in 2025.GartnerSeptember 20261,303 respondents
More than 80 percent of AI spending sits outside the enterprise IT budget.BCG Applied AI IndexSeptember 20261,330 executives
Inference cost per agentic workflow will rise more than fivefold through 2028, even as token prices fall.GartnerAugust 2026Forecast
KPMG, Global AI Pulse Q2 2026.
KPMG, Global AI Pulse Q2 2026.

TakeawayHalf of organisations have pulled back agents on cost, and a third can see what AI costs them to run.

AI spending.

FindingSourceDateSample
Worldwide AI spending will grow 49.5 percent in 2026.GartnerSeptember 2026Forecast
AI spending rose from about 1.7 percent of revenue in late 2025 to 3.3 percent.BCG Applied AI IndexSeptember 20261,330 executives
94 percent would keep investing in AI even if 2026 initiatives fail to pay back.BCG AI RadarJanuary 2026About 2,400 executives
Global corporate AI investment reached a record US$581.69 billion in 2025.Stanford HAI AI IndexApril 2026Compiled data
Enterprises will defer 25 percent of planned AI spend to 2027.ForresterOctober 2025Prediction

TakeawayBudgets keep rising whatever the return, which is why the cost side has to be governed.

Agentic AI.

FindingSourceDateSample
Over 40 percent of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027, due to escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls.GartnerJune 2025Prediction
42 percent expect agents to have real decision authority by 2030, and 5 percent have the full set of controls in place today.BCG Applied AI IndexSeptember 20261,330 executives
AI agent deployment was in single digits across nearly all business functions.Stanford HAI AI IndexApril 2026Compiled data

TakeawayAgent cancellations come from cost, value and risk, which are the three things a governance layer controls.

Statistics that are often misquoted.

Often quoted asWhat the source measured
95 percent of AI projects fail (MIT).An MIT NANDA study of 52 interviews and 153 survey responses found 95 percent saw no measurable profit and loss impact within six months. The authors called the findings preliminary.
74 percent of companies see ROI from AI (Wharton).The 74 percent applies to enterprises that measure generative AI ROI, about 72 percent of the sample.
40 percent of AI projects fail (Gartner).A prediction that over 40 percent of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027.
25 percent of AI delivers ROI (IBM, 2026).The figure is from IBM's 2025 CEO study. Its 2026 study does not give an ROI share.
171 percent average agentic AI ROI.We could not trace this to any publisher's research.
Is it true that 95 percent of AI pilots fail?

TakeawayQuote the sample and the definition with the number, or leave the number out.

How Novie Control does it

You can see what AI costs to build.Can you see what it costs to run?

See how Novie Control helps.

Sources

  1. Gartner, Survey Finds Only 13% of CIOs Say Their Enterprise Has Realized Significant or Transformational Value from AI (19 October 2026)
  2. BCG, AI Is Starting to Pay Off. Almost 50% of Companies Now Generate Value with It (30 September 2026)
  3. PwC, 29th Annual Global CEO Survey (January 2026)
  4. Deloitte AI Institute, The State of AI in the Enterprise 2026 (January 2026)
  5. Deloitte, AI ROI: The paradox of rising investment and elusive returns (22 October 2025)
  6. Wharton and GBK Collective, Accountable Acceleration: Gen AI Fast-Tracks Into the Enterprise (October 2025)
  7. Gartner, Survey Finds All IT Work Will Involve AI by 2030 (20 October 2025)
  8. McKinsey, The state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation (November 2025)
  9. IBM Institute for Business Value, CEOs Double Down on AI While Navigating Enterprise Hurdles (6 May 2025)
  10. KPMG International, Global AI Pulse Q2 2026 (June 2026)
  11. Gartner, Survey Finds Only 22 Percent of Organizations Have Successfully Scaled AI Across Multiple Business Units (1 September 2026)
  12. Gartner, Predicts AI Inference Costs Per Agentic Workflow Will Increase More Than Fivefold Through 2028 (17 August 2026)
  13. Gartner, Forecasts Worldwide AI Spending to Grow 49.5% in 2026 (16 September 2026)
  14. BCG, As AI Investments Surge, CEOs Take the Lead (15 January 2026)
  15. Stanford HAI, AI Index Report 2026, Economy (April 2026)
  16. Forrester, 2026 Technology and Security Predictions (28 October 2025)
  17. Gartner, Predicts Over 40% of Agentic AI Projects Will Be Canceled by End of 2027 (25 June 2025)
  18. Fortune, MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing (18 August 2025)
  19. Fortune, An MIT report that 95% of AI pilots fail spooked investors (21 August 2025)

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Frequently asked questions

What percentage of AI projects deliver ROI?

IBM's 2025 CEO study found 25 percent of AI initiatives delivered the expected ROI. In 2026, 13 percent of CIOs told Gartner they had realised significant value, and Deloitte found 15 percent see significant ROI from generative AI.

What is the latest AI ROI statistic from KPMG?

KPMG's Global AI Pulse for the second quarter of 2026 found established ROI at 15 percent among organisations with full visibility of AI operating costs, against 3 percent without, from 2,145 senior leaders in 20 countries.

How much are companies spending on AI in 2026?

Gartner forecast worldwide AI spending to grow 49.5 percent in 2026. BCG found company AI spending rose to about 3.3 percent of revenue, with more than 80 percent of it outside the IT budget.

Is it true that 95 percent of AI pilots fail?

The figure comes from an MIT NANDA study of 52 interviews and 153 survey responses that measured profit and loss impact within six months. It describes early pilots in that sample, and larger surveys find higher shares reporting value.

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