Enterprise Insights

AI Consulting in Practice: What's Actually Working

Real data from 2,500+ enterprise AI use cases reveals where companies are seeing ROI, where they're stuck, and what separates leaders from laggers.

82% Seeing ROI from AI

"44.3% reporting modest ROI and 37.6% reporting high ROI. Only 5% seeing negative ROI. And expectations are sky-high—67% expect increased growth in the next year."

— NLW, Super Intelligent (survey of 1,000+ organizations)

Timestamp: ~00:16:30

The insight: Despite media narratives of an AI bubble, enterprises are seeing real returns. The story is about much more than time savings—it's about new capabilities and revenue growth.

Key Findings

From Pilot to Production: The Agent Surge

KPMG Quarterly Pulse Survey: Enterprises with production agents jumped from 11% in Q1 to 42% in Q3—nearly 4x growth in just six months. This isn't pilots; it's full production deployment.

Why it matters: Despite narratives that 2024 wasn't "the year of agents," enterprises are actually deploying agents in production faster than expected. The shift is creating new emphasis on human-agent interaction and upskilling.

Watch breakdown (00:07:00)

The Pilot Purgatory Problem

McKinsey State of AI Study: Only 7% of organizations are fully at scale with AI. 62% are still experimenting or piloting. The gap between leaders and laggers is widening.

The pattern: Biggest organizations are actually ahead of smaller ones—contrary to expectations. Leaders do more use cases systematically, think comprehensively, and focus beyond time savings to revenue growth and new capabilities.

Watch analysis (00:13:00)

ROI Expectations Are Accelerating

KPMG CEO Survey Shift: Last year, 63% of CEOs thought ROI would take 3-5 years. This year, 67% expect it in 1-3 years—and 19% think 6-12 months. Massive pull-forward of expectations.

The challenge: 78% say traditional impact metrics are failing with AI. CIOs can't measure ROI the way they did with previous technologies. New measurement frameworks needed.

Watch explanation (00:24:00)

Spend Is Increasing, Not Decreasing

$114M → $130M expected AI spend per enterprise over next 12 months (KPMG Pulse). 90%+ of organizations plan to increase AI spending (Deloitte study).

The implication: Despite AI bubble narratives, enterprise investment is accelerating. The conversation is shifting from "should we invest?" to "how do we measure impact?"

Watch data breakdown (00:27:00)

Real ROI Data from 2,500+ Use Cases

Super Intelligent surveyed 1,000+ organizations about their AI use cases. Here's what the first 2,500 submissions reveal about where enterprises are actually seeing value.

82%

of organizations seeing ROI from AI

High ROI:37.6%

Modest ROI:44.3%

Negative ROI:5.0%

Watch (00:17:00)

67%

expect increased ROI growth next year

Even teams with negative ROI: 53% still expect high growth. Optimism remains incredibly high across the board.

Watch (00:18:00)

35%

of use cases focus on time savings

The sweet spot: 5-10 hours saved per week = 7-10 work weeks won back per year. That's transformative even if it's not the ultimate goal.

Watch (00:19:00)

25%

of risk reduction use cases are transformational

The hidden gem: Risk reduction is only 3.4% of use cases but has highest transformational impact. AI excels at handling sheer volume and quantity challenges.

Watch (00:43:00)

What Separates Leaders from Laggers

Think Systematically, Not Spot Experiments

McKinsey & Company Analysis

Leaders don't just do spot experiments. They think about AI strategy as a whole, do multiple things at once, and look beyond first-tier time savings to revenue growth and new product lines.

The pattern: The more use cases an organization submitted, the better their ROI. Systematic, cross-disciplinary approaches outperform isolated pilots.

Watch (00:14:00)

C-Suite Sees More Transformational Impact

Super Intelligent ROI Survey

17% of C-suite use cases report transformational impact (vs. lower percentages for junior roles). Leaders focus on inherently more transformational use cases—new capabilities, revenue growth, not just time savings.

The insight: Role-based focus matters. C-suite is less interested in saving 5 hours/week, more interested in doubling output or entering new markets.

Watch (00:32:00)

Automation & Agents Outperform

Super Intelligent ROI Survey

Use cases focused on automation or agents "wildly outperform" in self-reported ROI compared to simple time savings. This points to where the next layer of value is coming from.

The trend: Most enterprises start with time savings (first tier). Leaders move quickly to automation and agentic workflows (second tier) where the real transformation happens.

Watch (00:49:00)

Organization Size Shapes Focus

Super Intelligent ROI Survey

200-1,000 person organizations focus more on increasing output—scaling companies striving for growth. Smallest organizations (1-50 people) see more transformational benefits early.

The insight: Organizational context shapes ROI focus. A 3-person startup and a 40-person company are worlds apart in AI needs, even though both are "small."

Watch (00:28:00)

Industry-Specific Insights

Healthcare & Manufacturing Outperform Average

Use cases in healthcare and manufacturing show meaningfully higher impact on average than the cross-industry average. These sectors are finding disproportionate value from AI.

The opportunity: These industries deal with complex operational challenges, regulatory requirements, and physical-world constraints where AI's pattern recognition and automation capabilities are particularly valuable.

Watch analysis (00:45:00)

Coding & Software Use Cases Lead

Software and coding use cases show higher ROI than average and lower negative ROI than average. The 2024 inflection in AI adoption for coding is real and measurable.

The driver: Major inflection in 2024 around coding and software engineering adoption. Not just within engineering orgs—other parts of organizations are now thinking about how to communicate with code and build things with code.

Watch breakdown (00:05:00)

The Eight ROI Categories

Super Intelligent's survey divided ROI impact into eight categories. Here's how enterprises are categorizing value:

Time Savings

35%

The default starting point for most organizations

Increased Output

High

Popular with growing orgs (200-1,000 people)

Quality Improvement

High

Core productivity focus area

New Capabilities

High

Transformational focus for C-suite

Better Decisions

Moderate

Strategic use cases

Cost Savings

Moderate

Operational efficiency focus

Revenue Growth

Emerging

Leader focus, not just productivity

Risk Reduction

3.4%

Small but 25% transformational

Actionable Takeaways

Move Beyond Time Savings

For C-Suite and Leaders

Time savings is the default starting point (35% of use cases), but leaders focus on increased output, new capabilities, and revenue growth. Transformational ROI comes from reimagining what's possible, not just doing the same things faster.

Action: Map use cases to ROI categories. If 80% are time savings, you're missing the transformational opportunities.

Plan for Automation & Agents

For AI Strategy Teams

Automation and agent-focused use cases "wildly outperform" simple time savings cases in ROI. The shift from pilots to production agents is happening faster than expected (11% → 42% in 6 months).

Action: Don't get stuck in pilot purgatory. Plan for production deployment from day one. Focus on human-agent interaction and upskilling.

Develop New ROI Metrics

For Finance & ROI Teams

78% of executives say traditional impact metrics are failing with AI. The old ways of measuring technology ROI don't work for AI's unique characteristics (probabilistic outputs, continuous improvement, etc.).

Action: Create AI-specific measurement frameworks. Track the eight ROI categories separately. Measure transformational impact, not just efficiency gains.

Think Systematically

For Enterprise Leaders

Organizations submitting more use cases consistently see better ROI. Leaders do multiple things at once, think comprehensively, and approach AI as a cross-organizational transformation—not spot experiments.

Action: Build a portfolio of use cases across functions. Connect them strategically. Measure collective impact, not just individual project ROI.

Explore Risk Reduction Use Cases

For Compliance & Risk Teams

Only 3.4% of use cases focus on risk reduction, but 25% of those are transformational. AI excels at handling volume and quantity challenges in compliance, back-office, and risk functions.

Action: Don't overlook risk reduction. The use cases are less obvious but have higher transformational potential. Focus on volume-heavy processes.

Leverage Coding Inflection

For Technical Leaders

2024 saw a major inflection in coding and software engineering AI adoption. Coding use cases show higher-than-average ROI and lower negative ROI. This trend is spreading beyond engineering to other org functions.

Action: Accelerate coding AI adoption. Think beyond engineering—how can marketing, sales, operations "communicate with code" and build internal tools?