Rethinking the “95% of GenAI Pilots Fail” Narrative: Anna E. Molosky on Turning AI Investment into ROI
The headline “95% of GenAI pilots fail” has dominated tech news cycles—but, according to Anna E. Molosky, it confuses noise for signal. Instead of discouraging enterprise AI adoption, it should highlight the strategies top-performing organizations use to turn AI investments into measurable ROI.
Drawing on insights from MIT’s GenAI Divide 2025 study and real-world enterprise examples, Anna shares three strategies leaders in the top 5% use to generate meaningful returns from AI.
1️⃣ Reallocate Early AI Spend to Back-Office Automation
Many organizations focus the majority of their GenAI budgets—an average of 50%—on Sales and Marketing. While these areas are important, back-office automation delivers the clearest near-term ROI.
Executives should:
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Target process-specific automations
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Integrate AI solutions with existing systems
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Reduce dependency on business process outsourcing
Case in point: AT&T scaled enterprise-wide AI automation across finance and operations, saving 16.9 million manual effort minutes annually, realizing hundreds of millions in annualized value, and achieving 20x ROI.
The lesson: early-stage AI wins often come from operational efficiency, not external-facing innovation.
2️⃣ Leverage Employees’ Appetite for AI Efficiency
A thriving “shadow AI economy” exists within enterprises: 90% of employees use personal AI subscriptions (like ChatGPT or Claude) to automate work. Yet only 40% of companies provide enterprise-grade AI access to employees.
Anna emphasizes a structured approach:
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Identify which tasks employees already automate
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Prioritize high-value workflows
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Embed those workflows into robust, enterprise-grade tools
By tapping into this latent productivity, organizations can amplify efficiency gains and accelerate AI adoption at scale.
3️⃣ Set Realistic Timelines for Enterprise AI Projects
Enterprise AI deployments are complex, multi-year initiatives. A 6-month pilot window is insufficient to judge success. Major rollouts typically span 1–3 years, depending on scope and integration depth.
Leaders must:
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Recalibrate expectations for deployment speed
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Set realistic timelines organization-wide
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Recognize that early-stage pilots are learning opportunities, not final verdicts
Reframing the 95% Statistic
Instead of seeing the “95% failure” stat as a warning sign, Anna reframes it as a maturity signal:
“It highlights the 5% of organizations that have successfully realized positive AI ROI—and the strategies they used to do so.”
To maximize enterprise impact and ROI, organizations should:
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Shift early AI spend toward back-office automation
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Analyze shadow-AI usage to identify high-value processes
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Set realistic expectations for enterprise-scale deployment
With these approaches, AI becomes less about hype and more about measurable business value.
This blog emphasizes Anna E. Molosky’s expertise in enterprise AI strategy, showing how careful allocation, employee empowerment, and realistic timelines separate the AI winners from the rest.
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