Big tech lost hundreds of billions in market value in late July, leading investors to become skeptical of AI investment returns. Business leaders across industries are now asking what AI spending actually produced. A recent Forbes article gathered perspectives from technology and business leaders on how companies should respond, and Paxxon Brown, Strategic Growth Partner at Nisum, shared his thoughts on why the problem was never AI spending in the first place.
"There's no value in eliminating AI initiatives; chasing AI isn't the value," Brown said. "The value remains in the outcomes we can create — every investment has to tie to an accountable business result." Much of the current anxiety around AI ROI comes from treating AI adoption as a box to check. When that's the main driver, it's no surprise the returns are hard to find.
Business leaders need discipline in how initiatives get evaluated before thinking about either pulling the plug on AI investments or to continue investing altogether. Even if it’s a lengthier process, they should be looking at it on a project by project basis and asking whether an AI investment is tied to a measurable business result or not. Some initiatives will clear that bar easily; others won't, and that's fine.
This is the lens Nisum brings to how we work with clients, AI evaluation isn't a one-time audit or an annual budget exercise. We seek to have it implemented as needed, at the point where a decision is actually being made or where it actually benefits the final outcome. Rather than treating every initiative under one blanket policy, we question its need in every project so that we know it’s meant to serve the problem our clients want to solve. We believe this is a more sustainable way to build AI into a business than either chasing every new capability for the sake of it, or freezing spending out of caution.
The market correction on AI spending may seem uneasy, but for those who have been rightfully questioning its use and implementation from day 1, it's mostly just confirmation that their cautious approach was correct.
