How to Measure ROI of AI Investments in a Scale-Up

How to Measure ROI of AI Investments in a Scale-Up

‍

Fragmented AI adoption is quietly becoming one of the biggest leaks of time, money and resources inside growing businesses.

‍

The pace of AI innovation is relentless, with new tools, models and use cases appearing daily, which makes it increasingly hard for leaders to distinguish what’s genuinely valuable. Getting a grip on AI ROI now is crucial to sustainable growth in 2026. 

‍

Why ROI matters on AI investments

‍

- It keeps your spend focused on what actually drives revenue and results.

‍

- It gives your board confidence that AI is a growth lever, not a series of wasted experiments.

‍

- It’s proven to work. Companies that set clear KPIs early scale AI value faster than those stuck in endless experimentation.

‍

What AI adoption is not… 

‍

A magic wand. 

‍

Take Swell Investing, one of the early waves of robo-advisors. They used AI and machine learning to automate portfolio management and offer personalised investment advice to millennials. However, high customer acquisition costs and their inability to differentiate themselves in a crowded market ultimately forced them to close the business. 

‍

It wasn’t solely the lack of positive ROI on their AI investments that led to their downfall. The moral of the story is that adopting AI technologies into the business won’t magically fix all your problems, especially the foundational ones. 

‍

A one-size-fits-all strategy. 

‍

AI ROI isn’t like traditional software ROI. Models improve over time, teams adopt at different speeds, data quality, change management, and experimentation cycles all vary from business to business.

‍

Two types of AI ROI you should be measuring

To avoid missing the real value of AI, we recommend tracking both hard and soft metrics.

‍

Hard (quantifiable) ROI - tangible growth metrics. 

‍

• Cost savings from automation, such as fewer manual hours
• Revenue uplift through better targeting, forecasting or personalisation
• Productivity gains, including fewer errors and faster delivery
• Time saved that allows teams to focus on higher-value work

‍

Soft (strategic) ROI - these shape long-term growth and company value.

‍

• Improved quality of decision-making
• Better customer experience
• Higher employee retention because teams feel supported
• Stronger data capability and AI literacy across the business

‍

The most successful AI programmes track both. One shows immediate performance and the other tracks long-term success.

‍

The do’s of measuring the success of AI in your business 

‍

DO… be realistic about timelines and expectations.

‍

AI ROI isn’t immediate, it can often be a gradual shift. Models need to be built, tested, refined and sometimes discarded before they deliver any meaningful value. That affects both cost and timing.

‍

DO… budget for maintenance, not just experimentation.

‍

Training a model is only the start. Ongoing monitoring, retraining, governance and MLOps all have costs to consider. So does experimentation. 

‍

DO… invest in change management.

‍

AI only creates value when people use it. Training, workflow redesign and adoption all require time and money. Skipping this step is one of the fastest ways to destroy ROI.

‍

The don’ts 

‍

DON’T… be pressured into premature AI adoption.

‍

Without clear ROI frameworks, it’s impossible to know which initiatives are worth pursuing and which are being wasted. The bandwagon won’t leave you behind, so don’t jump on until you’re ready. Be smarter and more strategic than the rest. 

‍

DON’T… run AI projects in silos.

‍

Treating every AI initiative as separate prevents you from seeing the full picture. It also limits collaboration and reuse of data, models and learnings across teams.

‍

The first steps to building AI ROI 

‍

1. Define clear business use cases and objectives
2. Identify measurable success metrics and realistic timelines
3. Invest in expertise and training
4. Set expectations across leadership and teams
5. Track, review and refine continuously

‍

AI can be a powerful growth lever, but only when it’s measured with the same rigour as every other strategic investment.

‍

Think & Grow partners with ambitious businesses to implement AI in a way that delivers real, provable value. If you want to move beyond experimentation and into impact, our team is ready to help. Get in touch with us.