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He\u2019s not saying it is<\/em> a bubble, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella knows what one would look like.<\/p>\n Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, the Microsoft CEO said whether there\u2019s an AI bubble depends on one not-so-surprising factor: adoption rates. \u201cFor this not to be a bubble by definition, it requires that the benefits of this are much more evenly spread\u201d beyond just AI firms and the tech industry, Nadella said. Early indications suggest the industry may have its work (human, AI-driven or otherwise)\u00a0cut out for it to achieve that.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE:\u00a0<\/b> Receive more of our free The Daily Upside newsletter. READ ALSO:\u00a0<\/b>Housing Market\u2019s Blue Christmas: Pending Sales Slide Most Since 2001<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/b>Schwab Earnings Spotlight the Real Winners of Record Retail Investor Inflows\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n In PwC\u2019s 29th Global CEO Survey, published this week, just 12% of top bosses said AI has delivered both cost and revenue benefits for their organizations, and more than half (56%) say they have seen no significant financial benefit from it. That dovetails with an MIT report last summer that found 95% of firms reporting zero returns on their own AI pilot programs.<\/p>\n Thankfully for Nadella and the rest of the AI eggheads in Silicon Valley, PwC\u2019s report also offers a roadmap for successful AI deployment:<\/p>\n Per the survey, CEOs who reported both cost improvements and savings gains from AI were around 2.5 times more likely to say their companies have integrated AI across operations, from strategic decision-making to products and services.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Meanwhile, organizations that established \u201cstrong AI foundations\u201d were three times more likely to report meaningful financial gains. Translation: Companies seem to be getting out of AI what they put into it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u201cAI moves so fast \u2026 that people forgot that the adoption of technology, you have to go to the basics,\u201d PwC global chairman Mohamed Kande told Fortune<\/em> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Spread The Wealth: <\/strong>AI firms, meanwhile, are grappling with a fundamental business question of their own: how to make money. Last week, OpenAI announced plans to start testing ads in the US for its free and low-cost Go tier worldwide. In Davos this week, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told independent tech journalist Alex Heath the company has \u201cno plan\u201d of its own to put ads in Gemini, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s interesting [OpenAI has] gone for that so early \u2026 Maybe they feel they need to make more revenue.\u201d Perish the thought!<\/p>\n This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. To receive razor sharp analysis and perspective on all things finance, economics, and markets, subscribe to our free The Daily Upside newsletter.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n