Fintech Ramp's latest spending figures indicate U.S. corporate AI deployment stalled in May, following nearly a year of consistent growth, suggesting businesses are becoming more measured in their AI rollouts:
- The 41% stall: Ramp's AI Index, analyzing expenditures from over 30,000 U.S. businesses, reported the 41% overall AI penetration figure for May, halting a nearly ten-month climb. Breaking this down by company scale, Ramp’s data shows large businesses leading with nearly half using AI tools, compared to roughly 44% of medium-sized firms and just over a third for small companies.
Early exuberance for AI is clearly meeting the tarmac of operational reality, pushing companies to scrutinize actual returns and integration challenges before further expansion. Another possible explanation is that models and features coming out of the warring major LLM players have companies in a wait-and-hold period as they wait to see which winners emerge before "picking a horse" for implementation.
- Pilots paused, people preferred: The apparent slowdown reflects a general cooling of initial AI enthusiasm, as businesses confront practical limits and returns. This is echoed by S&P Global data showing 42% of companies are now shelving generative AI pilots, up sharply from 17% last year. Similarly, buy-now-pay-later firm Klarna recently adjusted its AI strategy, reportedly rehiring human support staff after automated tools led to "lower quality" customer service.
- Index intricacies: Ramp itself notes its index methodology has limitations; identifying AI tools by merchant names and transaction details might overlook spending bundled elsewhere or underestimate adoption due to free tools and personal account usage.
Meanwhile, in the AI arena: Beyond current adoption rates, Anthropic's CEO is warning about white-collar job automation, while some market watchers chart AI's journey through the 'trough of disillusionment,' and SaaStr offers a deeper dive into why AI penetration might be slowing.
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