Goldman Sachs finds AI driving measurable profits at tech firms

Goldman Sachs research indicates that hardware firms are experiencing tangible financial gains from implementing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. During a recent 2026 Technology + Communacopia Conference, the investment bank surveyed seven major tech companies, including NetApp, HP Inc., Ingram Micro, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Super Micro Computer, and Penguin Solutions.

These companies have been deploying AI across various functions, from code generation and product development to manufacturing automation, customer support, supply chain planning, pricing, quoting, and sales lead generation.

Goldman Sachs observed that AI adoption is progressing from simple copilot assistance to more sophisticated agentic workflows that drive both productivity improvements and revenue generation. NetApp, for instance, revealed that a significant portion of their 400 AI initiatives now positively impact their profit and loss statement, with 13 initiatives contributing to revenue and cost reduction across product development, customer support, and supply chain management.

Dell detailed their multi-year strategy to redesign workflows around AI and AI-powered agents, which helped lower operating expenses to around 8% of revenue in their fiscal 2027 estimates, a substantial improvement from their historical average of mid-teens. The hardware companies highlighted the importance of hybrid AI architectures that balance token economics, data security, and access to advanced models.

They primarily utilize open-source and open-weight models for high-volume, repeatable inference tasks while reserving more powerful frontier models for complex applications.

Goldman Sachs emphasized that hardware firms provide a unique vantage point on AI returns since they are both suppliers of AI infrastructure and large-scale enterprise users. The bank noted that while AI initiatives are still in the early stages of adoption, they are already generating measurable profit and loss benefits and supporting operating leverage.