Despite soaring AI adoption, many enterprise initiatives fail to deliver meaningful ROI, according to Coupa’s new Clarity AI Impact Report, conducted with Incisiv Research and surveying over 600 business leaders. The report identifies a skills gap at the executive level and fragmented AI deployment as the main culprits behind stalled projects.
Executive Ambition vs. Practical Execution
The study reveals a stark disconnect:
- Only 5% of executives use AI daily, compared to 57% of technical teams.
- 86% of organizations see AI as essential, yet only 29% have a clear enterprise-wide strategy.
- 72% of AI projects remain in pilot mode, yet 47% of executives expect meaningful ROI within 6–12 months.
- 77% cite data quality and legacy system integration as the biggest barriers to success.
“This research is a wake-up call,” said Dennis Bruder, Chief Product Officer of AI at Coupa. “The bar for AI ROI has been raised. To achieve ambitious automation projections—69% by 2030 and 83% by 2035—executives must move from theoretical commitment to platform-driven execution.”
Unified Platforms Over One-Off Tools
The report underscores that isolated AI tools are insufficient to bridge the execution gap:
- 80% of companies prefer unified AI platforms over building internal solutions (only 10% choose custom internal builds).
- Only 2% of AI investment goes to orchestration, despite 77% prioritizing task automation.
- Human-in-the-loop oversight is preferred by 65% of executives, yet 56% are unsure if their company has a formal AI governance policy.
The findings suggest that enterprise AI success relies less on individual tools and more on platforms that integrate, govern, and orchestrate AI across the organization, enabling real-time adoption, scalability, and measurable ROI.
The Coupa Clarity AI Impact Report provides a blueprint for moving beyond pilots to enterprise-wide implementation, helping executives align ambition with actionable AI strategies.
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