'The progress is real': Deloitte report claims some firms are finally seeing return on AI investment — but still lack insight into what actually works

Deloitte's recent report reveals that some businesses are now witnessing a return on their AI investments, with 28% reporting current revenue growth, up from 20% earlier this year. While productivity, decision-making, and cost reductions have improved, increasing revenue remains the slowest to deliver tangible results. Despite this, 86% of surveyed businesses plan to increase AI investments in the next financial year.

However, Deloitte's research suggests that many firms lack visibility into AI's financial impacts, with 71% tracking only total spend rather than the breakdown of activities that lead to that spend. As AI becomes more integrated into businesses, roles are evolving, with 60% of companies having redesigned jobs to some extent, but only 15% having done so extensively.

Sovereignty is now a crucial aspect of AI strategies, with nearly half of American and EMEA businesses building in-house to regain control. However, this comes with trade-offs such as capability, speed, or cost. Deloitte emphasizes six key considerations for the future of AI, including redesigning work comprehensively, traceable costs down to the token level, aligning AI strategies with revenue-producing actions, improving governance as systems become more autonomous, exploring physical AI like robots, and viewing sovereignty as an ongoing effort rather than a one-time fix.