While an increasing number of companies announce AI-related layoffs and concerns mount about more to come, new EY research finds organizations are most often reinvesting their productivity gains from AI into growth, upskilling talent and increasing resilience.

"While AI readily raises the floor by improving efficiency, the transformative potential comes from raising the ceiling," says Dan Diasio, EY Global Consulting AI Leader. "Organizations that shift from a productivity mindset to a growth agenda are using AI to drive innovation, create new markets and achieve what was previously considered impossible. The survey demonstrates this inflection point—companies are reinvesting their gains to build the businesses of the future, not just optimize the operations of today."

Financial wins are accelerating AI budget allocation

The EY survey asked senior leaders about the impact of AI investments on their financial outcomes. A majority (56%) of respondents who have seen positive ROI from AI investments report that it has translated to significant measurable improvements in overall financial performance.

That performance is leading to increased planned AI spend by companies. While 27% of respondents investing in AI currently commit a quarter or more of their IT budget to AI, that figure is set to roughly double to 52% next year. Even more striking, the group spending half or more of their total IT budget on AI is expected to quintuple, jumping from just 3% today to 19% next year.

Crucially, the scale of investment correlates with success, as respondents at organizations investing $10 million or more in AI across all business units/teams are more likely than those investing less than $10 million to say their organization has seen significant AI-driven productivity gains over the past year (71% vs. 52%).

"The companies out in front on AI investment are pulling farther ahead and directing more capital into AI, making it the engine of their biggest growth and transformation bets," said Whitt Butler, EY Americas Vice Chair, Consulting. "The leaders making real headway are reinvesting early wins to build new capabilities and reimagine how work gets done. And the magnitude of investment matters: the organizations committing more funding to AI are seeing the strongest productivity gains, showing that AI is moving beyond pilots to become a true driver of enterprise value."

Trust remains foundational to scaling AI

The ability to safely scale AI by implementing strong governance and controls is becoming a competitive differentiator and respondents are increasingly focused on:

• Responsible AI training: Sixty percent of senior leader respondents whose organizations are investing in AI say the time spent on responsible AI training for employees has increased over the past year, and about two-thirds (64%) expect that time spent will grow in the year ahead.
• Ethical AI operation: Today, 68% of respondents whose organization is investing in AI report that their organization's focus on ensuring AI operates ethically will increase over the next year – significantly more than the 60% who predicted the increased focus a year ago.
• Transparency with customers: Increasingly, senior leaders are making transparency a priority, with respondents whose organization is investing in AI noting that their organization's transparency with customers about AI use will increase over the next year – 63% predict the increase today compared with 55% who did a year ago.

"Trust and transparency are the ultimate license to operate as AI diffuses throughout the enterprise," says Diasio. "Companies are realizing that if they want to turn productivity gains into long-term value, they must prove to their workforce and customers that their systems are not just powerful, but responsible."