McKinsey says enterprise AI is finally 'on the road to ROI'
- ID
- 17870
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 26 Aug 2026, 1:44 AM
- Fetched
- 26 Aug 2026, 7:10 AM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/08/25/mckinsey-says-enterprise-ai-is-finally-on-the-road-to-roi/5292388
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 6.5
- Created
- 26 Aug 2026, 7:11 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_codersai_ml_learnersai_agent_userssaas_founders
What happened
McKinsey's 2026 State of AI survey of 1,719 professionals finds enterprise AI investment rising while reported earnings impact stays flat year-over-year. Only 37% attribute 'some' EBIT impact to AI (unchanged from 2025), and just 6% qualify as 'high performers' (5%+ EBIT from AI with 'significant' impact), also flat. Agentic AI adoption rose, with 40% of respondents at organizations using it.
Why it matters
If you're a SaaS founder or builder selling AI tooling, the gap between rising enterprise AI spend and flat reported ROI means buyers are still paying on conviction, not proven returns—but that window narrows as expectations mature. Price and position around measurable cost savings or revenue lift, not capability demos, because the 6% high-performer figure shows almost nobody can yet prove significant EBIT contribution.
Discussion angle
With 40% of orgs now using agentic AI but EBIT impact flat, are agents the next wave of unproven spend—or the first category that will actually move the earnings needle?