Google Report Reveals Shifting AI Landscape: Productivity Gains Outweigh Revenue Growth

A New Google Report Finds 1 Clear Growing Use Case for AI

After a few years of unabated hype around generative AI's potential to supercharge businesses, executives (and their lofty expectations) are coming back down to Earth. That's the key theme from a new Google Cloud report. The report surveyed nearly 3,500 senior leaders across the globe, all of whom work for businesses with at least 100 employees and $10 million in annual revenue, and have deployed generative AI within their organization. In all, 74 percent of respondents said at least one of their AI use cases has delivered a return on investment within a year of launching (a figure that was unchanged from 2024). However, Google's definition of ROI is broad, including both revenue gains and organizational benefits like improvements in productivity, time to market, customer experience, and security. Deconstructing these ROI metrics, a different story of AI adoption starts to emerge. For example: Only 40 percent of respondents said their revenue had grown as a direct result of generative AI solutions, down from 44 percent in 2024. Rather than focusing on monetary returns, a majority of executives said that AI has optimized workflows within their organization. Seventy percent reported that generative AI had improved productivity (down very slightly from 71 percent in 2024). Of those executives, 39 percent said that their employees' productivity had at least doubled as a result of using AI solutions, down from 45 percent in 2024. AI has also been proven to have utility as a marketing tool; 55 percent of the surveyed executives said that generative AI had made a meaningful impact on their marketing efforts. The industries most energized about AI-assisted marketing were media and entertainment, along with retail and CPG, with 59 percent of executives in those industries saying the tech had improved their marketing. But there are no comparisons to 2024 here; Google hadn't previously measured marketing improvements. In security, executive sentiment was less enthusiastic than in 2024. Just 49 percent of surveyed respondents said that generative AI had a meaningful impact on their organization's security posture, down from 56 percent. Of those respondents, 53 percent said that AI had reduced the number of security tickets created within their organization, a big step down from the 65 percent who said the same in 2024. The one use case that markedly improved year-over-year, according to the survey, was AI-powered customer experience. Nearly 62 percent of executives said that generative AI solutions had improved their customer experience, up from 59 percent of respondents in 2024. Of those leaders, 75 percent reported improved satisfaction from users, down from 80 percent in 2024. Even while executives report decreased revenue and productivity gains compared to 2024, organizational spending on AI continues to rise, and that budget increase is increasingly coming at the expense of other initiatives. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they are reallocating funds from non-AI budgets to fund new genAI investments (up from 44 percent in 2024). Oliver Parker, VP of Google Cloud's go-to-market team for global generative AI, wrote that the report confirms a "fundamental change in business mindset." AI hype is settling down, and "the conversation has shifted to value." The final deadline for the 2025 Inc. Best in Business Awards is Friday, September 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

This Is How Senior Leaders Are Using AI at Work, According to a Google Survey

AI was also popular in security, where 49% of senior leaders said it had made an impact. AI is making a mark in marketing, security, and customer experience, according to a new Google Cloud report, which surveyed 3,500 senior leaders at global companies to find a clear use case for AI -- and figure out if leaders had seen a return on their AI investments. Each leader surveyed works for a business that earns at least $10 million in annual revenue, has at least 100 employees, and leverages generative AI. The majority of respondents (55%) indicated that AI was a useful marketing tool, helping them with tasks like data analysis, content generation, and editing. Nearly 60% of executives at media and entertainment firms indicated that AI had a positive impact on their marketing efforts. Related: 37% of Employers Would Rather Hire a Robot or AI Than a Recent Grad: 'Theory Alone Is No Longer Enough' Security was also an area where AI was useful to executives, according to the report. AI security tools combat cyberthreats by automatically detecting intruders and analyzing incidents. Almost half of executives (49%) said in the survey that AI helped with cybersecurity. Of that group, 53% stated that AI had diminished the number of security incidents reported in their organizations. Executives also found that AI improved customer experience. Close to 62% of leaders said that AI had enabled them to deliver better customer service, an increase from 59% of respondents who answered the same survey in 2024. Three in four leaders said customer satisfaction improved as a result of AI this year. The survey also sought to uncover whether AI had delivered a strong return on investment for organizations. Only 40% of respondents stated that AI had directly caused revenue growth for their companies, but 70% said that AI had made employees more productive. Related: AI Agents Can Help Businesses Be '10 Times More Productive,' According to a Nvidia VP. Here's What They Are and How Much They Cost. Google Cloud's VP of Global Generative AI, Oliver Parker, wrote that the report indicated that AI hype in organizations is calming down. "The conversation has shifted to value," he wrote. The report's findings contrast with research published last month by MIT, which found that though U.S. businesses have invested up to $40 billion in AI altogether, the overwhelming majority (95%) have yet to see a return on their investments or an impact on profits.