Turning AI cost spikes into strategic growth opportunities

Presented by Apptio, an IBM company AI spending is surging, but the full impact often remains an open question. Closing the gap requires clear answers to how AI is governed, measured, and tied to business outcomes. ROI uncertainty isn’t unique to AI: In the Apptio 2026 Technology Investment Management Repor t, 90% of technology leaders surveyed said that ROI uncertainty has a moderate or major impact on overall tech investment decisions, a 5-percentage point year-over-year increase. In other words, tech leaders are increasing their reliance on ROI – even if they don’t fully know how to measure it. And AI economics involves new and unpredictable costs, further complicating ROI calculations. Faced with increasing uncertainty and increasing budgets, technology leaders need a clear, reliable framework for evaluating AI ROI. Organizations increasingly expect scaled AI to pay its own way, at least partially. According to Apptio’s technology investment management report, 45% of organizations