Bain study finds companies miss AI savings targets because humans keep getting in the way

AI budgets are growing, but returns aren't keeping up. A Bain & Company survey of 951 companies found almost 40 percent achieved less than 10 percent in AI cost savings, even though the most common target was 11 to 20 percent. Still, 14 percent saved more than 21 percent, and 43 percent cleared 10 percent. Nine out of ten companies plan to increase their AI investments anyway, especially in AI agents.

One reason savings are lagging is too much human involvement, according to the study. Only 7 percent run fully autonomous AI agents, even though their business cases assume that level of automation. 32 percent loop in humans only when needed, while the most common setup (38 percent) still requires human approval.

Data access remains the biggest hurdle, cited by 41 percent. Bain says companies should treat it as a management issue, not an IT task, and rethink processes before rolling out AI.