Enterprise AI Costs Outpacing ROI Metrics

As AI investment continues to outpace enterprises' ability to track costs, many organizations are struggling to measure the return on investment (ROI) of their artificial intelligence initiatives. According to Gartner research, a staggering 84% of finance leaders say they struggle to measure AI ROI.

This lack of transparency is causing budget overruns and making it difficult for executives to defend or redirect investment in AI projects. The costs of running large language models (LLMs) at scale are steep, and unpredictable per-token pricing, shadow AI, and unmonitored token consumption are further complicating matters.

Apptio, an IBM company, provides a foundation for enterprise AI cost management by offering four pillars: cost attribution, outcome-based metrics, cross-functional governance, and continuous portfolio optimization. These pillars address the gap between AI costs and proven business value, enabling finance, IT, and business leaders to have a shared view of AI spending and business outcomes.