WorkThe story, in brief
Bain study finds companies miss AI savings targets because humans keep getting in the way
40% of companies are missing AI savings targets by half. Here's why: they're still relying on humans instead of autonomous agents.
The KeyNews take
Why it matters
Enterprise AI ROI is stalling not because of technology limits, but because companies aren't deploying the autonomous workflows their business cases depend on. This is a critical gap between AI strategy and execution that boards need to see.
The key facts
4 to know951 companies surveyed by Bain
40% achieved less than 10% AI cost savings vs. 11-20% target
Only 7% actually run fully autonomous AI agents despite business cases assuming deployment
Gap between planned and realized AI savings driven by human-in-the-loop constraints
Go to the source
The Decoderthe-decoder.com
Publisher excerpt: According to a Bain survey of 951 companies, almost 40 percent achieved less than 10 percent in AI cost savings, even though most had targeted 11 to 20 percent. One alleged reason is that only 7 percent actually run fully autonomous AI agents, even though their business cases assume exactly that.