McKinsey, a global consulting group, said a top group of companies that successfully adopted AI earned about $3 in returns for every $1 invested. Business Insider reported on Thursday that such results began as cash generation started 1 to 2 years after AI adoption and became more substantial after an additional 2 to 4 years.

McKinsey analysed 20 companies that fully adopted the “Rewired” framework to examine AI adoption results and factors that generate profits. Kate Smaje (케이트 스메이제), a senior partner at McKinsey, said on a recent company podcast that a threefold return on investment was “not a bad level” in terms of overall returns.

Most companies began generating cash 1 to 2 years after adopting AI. Typically, core profit increased by about 20 percent on average after another 2 to 4 years.

Companies that delivered results increased focus rather than expanding the scope of AI applications. About two-thirds of those surveyed adopted AI in 3 or fewer areas. Smaje explained that these companies did not apply AI indiscriminately across their organisations and instead selected very selectively where to deploy resources.

“Rewired” is an approach that jointly reorganises talent, operations, technology and data to link digital and AI investment to sustained business value. Smaje, Eric Lamarre (에릭 라마르) and Rodney Zemmel (로드니 제멀) set out the framework in “Rewired,” published in 2023. The content was created based on an analysis of 200 large-scale digital and AI transformations, as well as work with clients over several years.