There Is No ROI of AI: What Boards Really Ask Before They Fund It
Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 10:40 AM to 11:00 AM · 20 min. (US/Pacific)
Palazzo Ballroom D
Solo Talk
Oversight: AI ROI
Information
In my job, the only thing AI can't do is go to jail.
Accountability, judgment, the human on the hook for the call: that's what boards are really weighing when they decide whether to fund AI, and it's one of the biggest reasons strong cases never get approved.
Drawing on years spent on the boards where technology investments get approved, or quietly killed, I'll take you to the other side of the table and show you how directors actually decide, starting with a better question than "what's the ROI of AI?"
I'll share a practical framework built around the four questions every board asks before it funds AI, and the forms of return, beyond productivity, that separate an investable case from a science project.
Whether you build AI, sell it, or have to get it funded inside your own organisation, you'll leave knowing what the people who write the big cheques are really asking.
Accountability, judgment, the human on the hook for the call: that's what boards are really weighing when they decide whether to fund AI, and it's one of the biggest reasons strong cases never get approved.
Drawing on years spent on the boards where technology investments get approved, or quietly killed, I'll take you to the other side of the table and show you how directors actually decide, starting with a better question than "what's the ROI of AI?"
I'll share a practical framework built around the four questions every board asks before it funds AI, and the forms of return, beyond productivity, that separate an investable case from a science project.
Whether you build AI, sell it, or have to get it funded inside your own organisation, you'll leave knowing what the people who write the big cheques are really asking.
AI Transformation Tracks
Oversight: AI ROI
