Chapter 6The ROI Paradox: Why AI Demands a New Equation for Value
A popular saying whispered in the halls of executive summits and boardrooms alike is, “There’s no ROI in AI.”
It’s a provocative statement, but it’s also misguided, because what most companies mean when they say “ROI” isn’t long-term return on investment or growth. It’s short-term financial returns. Those are generally measured by cost savings or efficiency gains. But those metrics can’t possibly capture the full potential value of investment in AI. AI must not be seen as just another IT line item, as a cost center.
Contrary to viral reports, the problem isn’t that AI fails to deliver ROI, it’s that most organizations don’t make the changes in their business models, workflows, incentives, and metrics that we’ve seen are creating extraordinary gains for the leaders in AI implementation.
To drive home the transformative results some AI leaders are achieving, let’s look at who’s on the leaderboard.
Leaders Breaking Away
In 2025, entrepreneur and investor Henry Shi, cofounder and former CTO/COO of Super.com, launched the Top Lean AI Native Companies Leaderboard (Figure 6.1), with the goal of ...
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