Large enterprises bet heavily on generative AI to cut headcount and overhead this year, but the savings are proving elusive while software bills keep climbing. In one survey, 83% of CFOs said usage-based AI costs exceeded their projections. Small businesses, by contrast, are using flat-rate, off-the-shelf AI tools not to replace employees, but to expand their services and revenue without having to hire first.

Key Takeaways

By the Numbers: Among enterprises tracking AI savings, nearly 40% saved less than 10%, even though most had targeted 11% to 20%, and McKinsey found only 37% of leaders can attribute any profit gain to AI. Driven by usage-based pricing and heavy integration costs, nearly half of enterprises spent more on AI than budgeted, and 17% reported overruns of more than 50%.

Forrester found that more than half of employers regret AI-driven layoffs, and a third of those that reversed them spent more on restaffing than they had saved. Robert Half reported that 32% of hiring managers rehired for roles they had eliminated for AI. Gartner projects that half of companies that cut customer service and operations staff for AI will rehire for those functions by 2027.

Meanwhile, 70% of small business AI adopters report revenue growth, and in a Goldman Sachs survey, 93% said AI helped their business. Crucially, 82% of small businesses using AI increased their workforce over the past year, using AI to grow rather than replace workers.