AI Financial Payoff Zero for Most Companies Outside Tech Sector

Artificial intelligence investments are failing to generate meaningful financial returns for the vast majority of corporations. According to a recent TechCrunch report citing an analysis by Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside the technology sector.

Slok research focuses on what he terms the S&P 493. This group represents the S&P 500 index excluding the seven dominant technology giants like Microsoft, Nvidia, and Alphabet. The data reveals a stark contrast. While revenue per worker and profit margins continue to climb for major tech firms, these metrics remain completely flat for the remaining 493 companies.

Mainstream corporate America is beginning to view artificial intelligence token spending not as a catalyst for growth, but as a cost center that actively weighs down profit margins. The macroeconomic effects remain limited because advanced model usage is still confined to a very small segment of the broader economy. Venture backed startups continue to pour capital into tokens, but traditional enterprises do not need the latest models and refuse to pay premium prices for unproven returns.

Turning cheap computational power into higher revenue growth proves harder than industry hype suggests. Slok notes that while artificial intelligence functions as an excellent calculator, business intelligence relies primarily on human judgment.

Judgment requires deep context. Artificial intelligence currently lacks an understanding of accountability, trust, corporate culture, unwritten rules, and ethical tradeoffs. These human elements shape reputational risk and ultimately drive sustainable revenue growth and profit margins. A machine cannot navigate the nuanced ethical decisions that protect corporate long term value.

This Apollo finding aligns with broader industry research. A 2026 global study by Workday highlights a similar productivity paradox. The research indicates that nearly 40 percent of time saved by artificial intelligence tools is lost to rework. Employees spend excessive hours correcting errors and verifying outputs from generic tools, creating a false sense of return on investment. Only 14 percent of employees consistently achieve clear, positive net outcomes from these deployments.

Data sourced from Apollo Global Management macroeconomic analysis and Workday 2026 global research.

The narrative surrounding artificial intelligence will be decided by the S&P 493, not the dominant tech giants. So far, macroeconomic data shows no evidence of improving revenue growth or margins outside the technology sector.

Companies must redesign workflows and invest heavily in employee training to capture actual value. Simply deploying generic tools without updating job structures leaves organizations paying for speed while sacrificing quality. Employees end up fact checking every output, which drains the very time the technology was supposed to save.

Until businesses solve the human judgment and accountability gap, artificial intelligence will remain a costly experiment rather than a proven financial asset. True innovation requires aligning technological capability with human oversight, ensuring that speed never compromises operational integrity.