Bottom line: 91 percent of TMT companies report success from AI investments, but only 33 percent can actually measure it — a critical governance and control deficit for CDOs.
An Economist Enterprise survey of over 200 executives in the USA and Europe reveals a returns paradox: 91 percent of companies in the TMT sector claim their AI investments are delivering results, yet only one-third possess frameworks to measure actual business value.
The study, commissioned by HCLTech, examined AI deployments in telecommunications, media, semiconductors, and technology. It identifies three critical gaps: First, structured measurement of business returns is lacking. Second, an implementation gap exists when scaling pilots into productive operations. Third, upskilling strategies and internal governance are underdeveloped.
On upskilling: Only 20 percent of surveyed organizations have a concrete strategy for retraining or targeted hiring of AI specialists, even though training is prioritized in future budget decisions. On governance: Only 17 percent report that internal control frameworks actively shape how their AI systems function.
For CDOs, this means: AI investments without clear metrics and governance frameworks prevent both ROI tracking and consistent scaling. The study also points to cross-industry convergence: traditional TMT boundaries are blurring while AI penetrates all value chain stages. Companies must reconceive their AI strategy as an industrialization program with defined outputs, measurable objectives, and control processes — not as an experimental phase.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published 29 July 2026
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