According to the results of a recently-published survey from Gartner, the technological and consulting firm, many organisations are struggling to turn investments in traditional and generative AI into material improvements in worker productivity.

The company’s survey of over 700 respondents from a range of business functions revealed that among teams who primarily used traditional AI, only 37% reported high productivity gains, and GenAI-using teams fared marginally worse at 34%.

This means that 63% of those mainly utilising traditional AI reported having lower productivity gains, while 66% of respondents using GenAI reported lower productivity gains.

Randeep Rathindran, who serves as distinguished vice president, research, in the Gartner Finance practice, shared the latest findings on the impact AI is having on CFOs and finance leaders during the Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference 2025.

“Despite the excitement surrounding AI, its impact on productivity has been inconsistent, leading to what some describe as the AI productivity paradox,” said Rathindran.

“While AI has shown potential to boost productivity at the segment level, such as in call centers, broader organisational benefits have been harder to achieve. Therefore, CFOs should recalibrate expectations on how AI will truly impact worker productivity and headcount.”

Gartner outlined that several factors contribute to the limited productivity gains from AI. For instance, the inflated expectations of AI’s capabilities lead to disillusionment. While it can automate certain tasks and provide valuable insights, it doesn’t yet automatically translate into substantial productivity improvements across the board.

The distribution of productivity gains across functions is uneven too, it was noted. Marketing teams, for example, report the highest productivity gains from AI implementation, while legal and HR functions fall behind.

“The most successful teams approach AI with an openness to learn and explore new use cases, rather than fearing job displacement,” said Rathindran.

“By redesigning structures and workflows to eliminate process bottlenecks and shifting time to value-added tasks, these teams maximise AI’s potential and achieve meaningful productivity gains.”

Rather than viewing AI as a “silver bullet” for driving efficiency, Gartner underlined, CFOs and business leaders should reset their initial expectations about AI’s impact on productivity, and focus on creating the internal conditions that enable AI to deliver its full potential.

This involves challenging assumptions about cost or headcount savings in AI-related business cases, and sensitising C-suite and finance leaders to organisational behaviors that heighten AI’s impact.

By adopting a structured, explorative, and collaborative approach, firms can position themselves to capture the productivity benefits that AI can deliver, the research firm advised.

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“As AI and GenAI continue to evolve, their transformative promise remains undeniable. However, organisations must ground their expectations in current realities and focus on the factors that truly drive productivity gains,” Rathindran said.

“By understanding the nuances of AI’s impact and fostering a culture of acceptance and learning, organisations can harness AI’s potential to achieve sustainable success.”