Deloitte’s latest US economic forecast says investment related to artificial intelligence is helping support economic growth, with business investment in AI playing an important role in the current outlook.

The firm also expects the pace of business investment to moderate over time and highlights the possibility that returns from AI investment may fall short of expectations in a downside scenario. 

For businesses, this creates a difficult question. AI is becoming increasingly important, but adopting every new tool can quickly become expensive.

Software subscriptions, data systems, training, infrastructure and implementation costs can add up long before a business sees measurable results.

The problem is particularly relevant for smaller companies.

A large corporation may be able to experiment with several technologies at once, but a smaller business may not have the financial room to keep paying for tools that employees barely use.

This is why businesses need to stop measuring technology adoption by the number of tools they have.

The better measure is what those tools actually improve.

Does the system reduce response time?

Does it generate more leads?

Does it reduce repetitive work?

Does it help employees serve more customers?

There is also a productivity problem.

Adding AI to a poor process does not automatically fix that process.

If customer information is disorganized or employees do not know how enquiries should be handled, adding another technology layer can create even more confusion.

Businesses should therefore start with the problem instead of the technology.

Identify where time and money are being lost, then determine whether AI can solve that specific problem.

This approach also makes it easier to measure whether the investment is working.

Platforms such as Auxi Sherpa⁠ can help businesses apply AI to practical areas such as customer communication, lead management, follow ups and repetitive operations.

The value comes from connecting automation to a real business need rather than adopting AI simply because the market is moving quickly.

AI investment may continue to shape the global economy, but individual businesses still have to make their own investment decisions carefully.

The companies that benefit from AI will need to understand not only what the technology can do, but what it is actually doing for their business.

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