How to measure what analytics and AI work is worth

Why published studies disagree

Four widely quoted studies from 2025 and 2026 give very different pictures of AI returns, because each asks a different question.

Your own business case needs the same discipline these studies show at their best: write the question down first, in words a finance partner would accept.

A value ladder

Value shows up in stages, and every project should report against each rung and know which one its sponsor cares about.

1. Use. People open the report or call the system. It shows demand and nothing else.
2. Process. Time per task, error rate, cases handled per person.
3. Business result. Revenue per customer, cost to serve, conversion, churn, stock-outs.
4. Financial effect. The impact on profit, with the cost of running the thing included.

A project that stalls at the third rung usually lacks a baseline or has ignored its running costs. Dashboards are particularly prone to stopping at the first rung, since view counts are easy to collect and say little.

Set a baseline and a comparison

Measure the current process for at least a month, recording volume, time and error rate. Then choose a comparison: run the new approach for half the cases or some of the teams while the rest continue as before. Fix the measurement window in advance, long enough to cover a full cycle such as a month-end close or a sales quarter.

Count every cost: build, running cost, review time, data preparation and licences. One respondent in five in McKinsey’s 2026 survey said their organisation was limiting AI use because of operating costs, and costs counted from day one are much harder to be surprised by.³ Last, write down the result at which you will expand, adjust or stop.

Where the value tends to sit

BCG estimates that 70% of AI’s potential value sits in core functions such as sales and marketing, manufacturing, supply chain and pricing.⁵ Its future-built group reported about twice the revenue growth and 40% more cost reduction than laggards. Those companies differ in many ways, so the figure is a reason to look at core functions first and proves nothing about any single project.⁵

The one-page value sheet

Agree these eight lines with the sponsor before any build starts, and revisit them at every review.

• Use caseOne sentence naming the decision or workflow it changes.
• OwnerThe business leader who answers for the result.
• MeasureOne primary measure, and the rung of the ladder it sits on.
• BaselineCurrent value, period and how it was measured.
• ComparisonControl group, or a before-and-after design.
• WindowStart and end dates.
• CostsBuild, monthly running cost and review time.
• Stop ruleThe result at which you expand, adjust or end it.