The news: At Tech Futures 2025 in New York last week, IBM general manager of corporate strategy Roger Premo and VP of AI and automation Nick Fuller outlined how enterprises and brands can scale AI responsibly—and profitably.
“Every company has tried AI, but only about 5% have turned that into business value,” Premo said. “That’s not optional anymore.”
He referenced an MIT study stating that despite $30 billion to $40 billion in enterprise investment into generative AI (genAI) from January 2025 to June 2025, 95% of organizations are getting zero returns.
Accelerating AI’s business impact: IBM’s own experience proves the potential. Acting as “client zero,” IBM has improved its run rate by $3.5 billion—about 8% of its revenues—through internal AI adoption.
Premo said companies that succeed share five patterns:
“This is possible for any company,” Fuller said, “but it is critical for every individual and then doing it with governance built in from the beginning, so we do it in the right way for all of our businesses and for society.”
Yes, but: Most firms are still climbing the curve. According to IBM and Morning Consult, 46% of US IT decision-makers say it takes 6 to 12 months for an AI pilot to reach full production, and 32% take 1 to 2 years. Only 11% complete the transition in under six months.
Our take: Brands that treat AI as a business transformation, not a tech trial, will move faster from proof of concept to profit. Align leadership vision with a disciplined data strategy, invest in unified platforms, and embed governance from the start.
Those that rlinger in pilot mode risk falling behind as competitors deploy AI across marketing, operations, and customer experience within a year.