As enterprises accelerate investments in AI, many are discovering that the hardest part of adoption is no longer experimenting with large language models but turning them into trusted systems capable of running critical business operations. They are also baffled about what return on investments (ROI) will AI deliver.

According to Manik Narayan Saha, Managing Director for SAP Labs, East Asia, that may no longer be the right question. Speaking at the ATxSummit, Saha argued that traditional ROI models struggle to capture the impact of AI because the technology is fundamentally changing how work is performed rather than simply making existing processes faster.

Instead of relying solely on conventional financial metrics, organisations should focus on the broader business value AI creates through productivity gains, faster decision-making and new ways of operating, he added.

Saha said traditional ROI models assume that technology simply improves existing processes. AI, however, is changing how those processes are designed and executed in the first place, making it increasingly difficult to compare performance against historical benchmarks.

“As organisations redesign workflows around AI, the baseline itself changes. You’re no longer measuring incremental improvements to the same process but measuring entirely new ways of working,” Saha said.

He added that enterprises should therefore look beyond conventional financial metrics and instead assess how AI contributes to faster decision-making, greater productivity, improved customer experiences and new business capabilities.