Apollo Global Management’s chief economist, Torsten Slok, recently highlighted that artificial intelligence (AI) has yet to generate any financial benefits for most large corporations outside the technology sector. In his analysis of the S&P 493 companies—excluding major tech firms like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla—Slok observed that profit margins and revenue per employee remain unchanged, indicating AI has not enhanced productivity for these businesses. Despite substantial investments and broad enthusiasm surrounding AI, the returns for corporate America outside of tech have so far been nonexistent.

Slok expressed skepticism that companies beyond the tech industry will be able to translate increasingly accessible AI capabilities into meaningful growth in revenue or profit margins. He emphasized that while AI excels at data processing, genuine business intelligence involves judgment, which AI lacks. According to Slok, critical aspects of business such as accountability, trust, corporate culture, ethical decisions, and managing reputational risk are areas where AI does not yet contribute. These factors are essential drivers of a company's financial performance but remain difficult for AI to navigate effectively.

The economist’s position aligns with other research suggesting limited productivity gains from AI in the broader economy to date. This challenges some of the prevailing narratives that AI is a universal growth engine and points to significant hurdles for industries outside of technology in harnessing AI’s potential for actually improving their bottom lines. It also suggests that widespread adoption of AI tools has not yet translated into measurable financial success for many enterprises.

This assessment arrives amid growing debate about the real-world impact of AI beyond hype and investment figures. Slok’s note underscores that while AI technology continues to advance rapidly, the path to tangible economic payoffs for the majority of companies remains uncertain. His insights call for a more cautious view of AI’s current influence on corporate profitability outside of the tech giants that have dominated discussions and set high expectations for the technology’s transformative power.