Scaling AI for Success

Global AI spending is expected to top $2 trillion USD in 2026.¹ Astronomical figures like this make it easy to forget this is still a relatively new investment priority. With this in mind, 2026 is the year of progress over perfection. Businesses are moving beyond experimentation to execution, with every decision analyzed and dissected at speed to inform the next in this fast-evolving landscape.

Seeking ROI, Spending Soars

AI is the only technology in which CEOs plan to increase investment at a faster rate than in 2025, underscoring its shift from an innovation line item to a core driver of competitiveness. Sixty-eight percent of CEOs expect to raise AI spend, and confidence in its value is strengthening: more than 84% of CEOs and investors say AI is meaningfully helping companies mitigate and navigate through disruption.

However, a growing gap is emerging between investor expectations and CEOs’ realism. Over half of investors now expect new AI initiatives to deliver returns in six months or less, while only 16% of large-cap CEOs think that’s achievable. Mid-cap CEOs show greater confidence for a pace of ROI that more closely matches investor expectations.

68% of CEOs plan to increase AI spending in 2026.

Question For new AI initiatives, what is your timeline for expecting to see a positive ROI?

CEOs report fewer than half of current AI projects are ROI-positive, but they are seeing the greatest gains across internal efficiency, administrative and customer-facing applications. Beyond ROI, CEOs and investors are seeing the most success across marketing and customer service AI strategies, while applications that pose the greatest potential risk and complexity (security, legal and HR) are the biggest challenges.

“The first wave of AI returns came from easy efficiency wins. The next wave is about rewiring core processes that inevitably have a longer, bumpier ROI curve,” says Ryan Cox, Global Head of Artificial Intelligence, Teneo. “These use cases are higher risk and have greater potential impact. You don’t rush them to market; you treat them as strategic change programs with board-level oversight, not experiments.”

EU Regulation to Boost AI

86% of EU CEOs

95% of EU Investors

believe the EU AI Act will have a positive impact on businesses.