Jag har i min senaste blogg reflekterat över hur artificiell intelligens dominerar styrelserummen världen över – men hur få ledare faktiskt kan förklara vad tekniken gör för deras verksamhet. Utifrån Financial Times-artikeln “America’s Top Companies Keep Talking About AI — But Can’t Explain the Upsides” har jag skrivit om det tydliga glappet mellan entusiasm och verkligt genomförande.
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Artificial intelligence dominates nearly every boardroom conversation today. Yet few leaders can explain what it actually does for their business.
That is the conclusion of the Financial Times article “America’s Top Companies Keep Talking About AI — But Can’t Explain the Upsides”, which analysed hundreds of filings and earnings transcripts from S&P 500 companies. The findings reveal a striking gap between enthusiasm and execution.
According to the FT, 374 of the S&P 500 companies mentioned AI on their earnings calls, and 87% of those statements were entirely positive. Yet few could clearly describe measurable benefits or productivity gains. For many, AI has become a strategic narrative rather than a concrete result.
The major technology groups — Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta — continue to invest heavily, committing around $300 billion this year to build AI infrastructure. But beyond Silicon Valley, many companies appear driven more by fear of missing out than by a clear strategic vision. As one Gartner analyst noted in the FT, the question for many executives is no longer “What problem are we solving?” but “What if our competitor solves it first?”
There are exceptions. Defence contractor Huntington Ingalls applies AI in battlefield decisions. Zoetis uses it to accelerate animal-health testing. Dover Corporation employs AI to track hail-damaged vehicles from assessment to repair. These examples, however, remain isolated amid a much larger wave of optimistic talk and limited delivery.
The FT’s analysis also showed that companies are more specific about AI’s risks than its advantages. Cybersecurity, regulation, and reliability dominate risk sections in corporate filings. Meta, for example, cautioned in its 10-K that there is “no assurance that the usage of AI will enhance our products or services or be beneficial to our business.”
AI has become the language of progress — but not yet the measure of it.
In the long run, markets will reward those who move from concept to outcome, from vision to verified results.
