AI activity is easy to count. Changed work is harder.

Every AI update counts something. Licenses. Active users. Training hours. All real. All access.

The number that predicts a result is rarer: how many workflows now run differently, with an owner.

The evidence agrees. MIT’s NANDA project found about 95 percent of enterprise gen-AI pilots showed no measurable P&L return, on a deliberately narrow bar. BCG found employees at companies redesigning their workflows were 24 points likelier to see measurable business improvement. Better tools alone moved it about 5.

So: before your next renewal, ask for the second number. Which workflows changed? Who owns each one? If the answer is a list of tools, you’re early. Price the decision that way.