The data also confirms that the use of open source tools for AI solutions can be associated with greater financial return on investment: 51% of respondents who currently use open source AI tools report a positive ROI, compared to only 41% of organizations that do not use open source tools.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of all respondents say they will increase their AI investments in 2025, while 48% plan to use open source ecosystems to optimize their AI deployments. Of the organizations surveyed that are not currently using open source solutions, 2 in 5 say they plan to use open source for AI implementation in 2025.
“As organizations begin to implement AI at scale, many are increasing their focus on success metrics such as productivity gains, in part because the traditional hard-dollar ROI benefits have not yet been reflected on balance sheets,” said Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research. “Nevertheless, companies continue to rapidly advance their AI strategies and there is no sign of slowing down. Companies are now recognizing the value of defining specific use cases and optimizing AI projects. They are adopting hybrid cloud strategies and open source to drive AI innovation and deliver financial returns.”
Other findings of the study include:
Companies are increasing their AI investments in 2025 to optimize returns
- 89% of companies surveyed plan to either increase or maintain their investments in AI by 2025.
- Of the 62% that plan to increase their investment, almost two-fifths (39%) of respondents plan to increase their spend by 25-50%.
- Only 5% of respondents plan to decrease their AI spend, and none by more than 50%.
- The companies surveyed focus on specific areas when allocating their AI investments, particularly IT operations (the most important focus area for 63% of respondents), data quality management (46%) and product/service innovation (41%).
- When asked what strategic changes should be made in 2025, the IT decision-makers surveyed cited the use of managed cloud services (51%), hiring specialized talent (48%) and the use of open source (48%) as the most frequently mentioned ways to optimize their AI investments.
Open source is emerging as an important tool to drive AI innovation and ROI
- 6 out of 10 IT decision makers surveyed say they use open source ecosystems as a source for AI tools, and more AI solutions are expected to be based on open source in the coming year (41% in 2025 vs. 37% in 2024).
- More than 80% of respondents say that at least a quarter of their organization’s AI solutions or platforms are based on open source.
- As company size increases, so does the likelihood that the majority (over 50%) of AI solutions are based on open source.
- The companies surveyed that use open source ecosystems are more likely to achieve a positive ROI than those that do not (51% vs. 41%).
- In addition, respondents who use open source ecosystems plan to launch more AI pilots in the coming year than those who do not: 38% say they plan to launch more than 21 AI pilots in 2025, compared to 26% for organizations that do not use open source tools for AI.
Companies are prioritizing less traditional ROI assessments when investing in AI, but many have yet to see positive results
- 85% of IT decision makers surveyed report progress in implementing their AI strategy, while only 9% report no progress.
- 58% of respondents said their organization typically moves from AI pilot to full production in less than a year.
- 31% of organizations surveyed say their AI investments are more innovation-driven, while 28% are more ROI-driven; 41% say their organization is equally innovation- and ROI-driven.
- Faster software development (25%), faster innovation (23%) and time savings in productivity (22%) are the top three metrics IT decision-makers surveyed use to calculate the ROI of AI investments. Hard dollar/quantifiable savings came a distant fourth at 15%.
- Almost half (47%) of the companies surveyed say they are achieving a positive ROI with their AI projects; 33% say they are breaking even and only 14% say they are experiencing a negative ROI.
- Of the companies that are not yet seeing a positive ROI, less than half (44%) expect to realize financial savings within the next 1 to 2 years; 92% believe they will see a positive ROI within 3 years.
For the full study, visit: https://newsroom.ibm.com/image/IBM_ROI_of_AI_Report-December_2024.pdf
Study Methodology
Morning Consult conducted a survey of a total of 2,413 IT decision makers in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Spain, India, Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea from October 30 to November 13, 2024. Interviews were conducted online and the data is unweighted. Respondents are employed in companies with 101 or more employees, hold a managerial or higher position in the technology sector and have decision-making authority in at least one of the following areas: Management of business consultants/consulting services, procurement of IT products or procurement of business consulting services.
About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries harness insights from their data, optimize business processes, reduce costs and gain competitive advantage in their industries. More than 4,000 government and enterprise organizations in critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to make their digital transformation fast, efficient and secure. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting provide our clients with open and flexible options. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, accountability, inclusivity and service.
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Further links
👉 www.ibm.com
👉 To the study
Photo: IBM
