{"id":3649681,"date":"2026-04-13T19:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/?p=3649681"},"modified":"2026-04-13T19:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:29:29","slug":"the-human-problem-behind-every-failed-ai-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/artificial-intelligence-2\/2026\/the-human-problem-behind-every-failed-ai-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Human Problem Behind Every Failed AI Investment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Money is moving. Tools are live. Artificial intelligence (AI) sits at the top of virtually every C-suite priority list. So why are so few organizations seeing returns?<\/p><div\r\n\tid=\"article-paywall-overlay\"\r\n\tclass=\"d-none\"\r\n>\r\n\t<div id=\"article-paywall-content\" class=\"my-4\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"2699550\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3649681#wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init pymnts-article-paywall-form\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"2699550\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.1.5\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"en_US\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" 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you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/terms-conditions\/\">Terms and Conditions<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p><input id='hiddenPath' type='hidden' name='path' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='userDeviceId' id='userDeviceId' \/><input type='hidden' name='pageTitle' id='pageTitle' \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id='formButtonRow' class='container mt-1 px-0'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner btn btn-dark text-uppercase py-2 px-5 small\" id=\"theSubmitButton\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"post_id\" value=\"3649681\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"source\" value=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/artificial-intelligence-2\/2026\/the-human-problem-behind-every-failed-ai-investment\/\" \/><p style=\"display: none !important;\" class=\"akismet-fields-container\" data-prefix=\"_wpcf7_ak_\"><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"_wpcf7_ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" maxlength=\"100\"><\/textarea><\/label><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"ak_js_1\" name=\"_wpcf7_ak_js\" value=\"95\"\/><script>document.getElementById( \"ak_js_1\" ).setAttribute( \"value\", ( new Date() ).getTime() );<\/script><\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"article-paywall-hidden-content\">\r\n\t\n<p>A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pearson.com\/content\/dam\/global-store\/global\/resources\/ai-readiness\/AI-Readiness-Report-2026.pdf\">study<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pearson.com\/en-us.html\">Pearson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/\">AWS<\/a> offers an uncomfortable answer: The workforce isn\u2019t ready.<\/p>\n<p>The study surveyed 2,711 employers, higher education leaders and students across six countries.<\/p>\n<p>Only 14% of graduates say they can apply AI effectively in real workflows. Among employers, 53% rank AI skills as their single biggest hiring challenge. The weakest competency recruiters find in candidates isn\u2019t technical. It\u2019s critical evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>The confidence gap is striking. More than three in four higher education leaders believe their graduates already meet employer expectations. The data disagrees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcg.com\/\">BCG<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcg.com\/publications\/2025\/closing-the-ai-impact-gap\">found<\/a> that while 75% of C-suite leaders rank AI among their top three priorities, only 25% say their organizations are realizing significant value. The explanation may be structural: BCG attributes just 10% of AI value creation to algorithms and 20% to infrastructure. The remaining 70% hinges on people, processes and change management: the hardest parts to scale and the ones most organizations are underinvesting in.<\/p><div id=\"pymnt-2300377525\" class=\"pymnt-content pymnt-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\"><p style=\"text-align:center\">Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p><script async type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"dianomi_context_script\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dianomi.com\/js\/contextfeed.js\"><\/script> \r\n<div class=\"dianomi_context\" data-dianomi-context-id=\"4329\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2>The Education-to-Workforce Disconnect<\/h2>\n<p>The Pearson and AWS study found that employers rank communication and collaboration at 50% and adaptability at 45% as their highest priorities for graduates entering AI-enabled roles. Higher education leaders undervalue communication and collaboration by 15 percentage points relative to employer demand, and adaptability by nine points. In the U.K., a 27-point gap separates what universities prioritize from what employers ask for.<\/p>\n<p>Across degree programs and markets, the study found that students are less convinced that a hybrid skillset of technical and human skills is expected. Employers are the least likely to expect that human skills alone are sufficient for an AI-driven economy.<\/p>\n<p>The IMF <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/-\/media\/files\/publications\/sdn\/2026\/english\/sdnea2026001.pdf\">finds<\/a> that about 1 in 10 job vacancies in advanced economies now requires at least one new AI-related skill, and those positions command higher wages. But the diffusion of AI cuts both ways: in occupations with high AI exposure and little room for distinctly human contribution, employment is falling. The supply of workers who can fill the roles where it pays to know AI is not keeping up with demand.<\/p>\n<h2>Where ROI Stalls Inside the Enterprise<\/h2>\n<p>PYMNTS Intelligence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/study_posts\/the-enterprise-ai-readiness-gap-what-company-data-reveals-about-the-real-barrier-to-scale\/\">found<\/a> that more than seven in 10 senior technology executives at large U.S. firms say internal constraints are holding back AI performance within their organizations. Only 11% blame the technology itself.<\/p>\n<p>Data quality, budget constraints and governance processes were the three most common bottlenecks, cited by 63%, 49% and 48% of respondents respectively, according to PYMNTS Intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompanies launch lots of AI pilots but can\u2019t turn them into repeatable, scalable value,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bcg.com\/publications\/2025\/strategies-tackle-ai-skills-gap\">said<\/a> Allison Bailey, BCG senior partner and global co-lead of BCG U. \u201cThere\u2019s too much emphasis on the tech and not enough on skills development for employees\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Another PYMNTS Intelligence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/artificial-intelligence-2\/2026\/71percent-of-services-firms-cite-ai-skill-gaps\/\">survey<\/a> of 60 CFOs at U.S. firms generating at least $1 billion in annual revenue found that 71% of services firms cited AI skill gaps as a key barrier. Only 12% of CFOs overall considered their companies very prepared for the workforce impact of AI.<\/p>\n<h2>How Enterprises Are Responding<\/h2>\n<p>Deloitte <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deloitte.com\/us\/en\/about\/press-room\/state-of-ai-report-2026.html\">reported<\/a> that 53% of organizations are educating the broader workforce to raise AI fluency, 48% are designing upskilling and reskilling strategies and 36% are hiring specialized talent to drive AI initiatives. According to Deloitte, most successful organizations reimagine jobs to combine human strengths and AI capabilities, with new roles including AI operations managers, human-AI interaction specialists and quality stewards.<\/p>\n<p>BCG found that only 36% of employees are satisfied with their AI training, even though nearly three in four are already using AI regularly. Additionally, BCG reported that creating persona-based learning journeys drives employee AI adoption 20 times higher than a broad-based approach.<\/p>\n<p><em>For all PYMNTS AI and digital transformation coverage, subscribe to the daily\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/pymnts.com\/subscribe\/\"><em>AI and Digital Transformation Newsletters<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>\r\n\twindow.pymntsAllowedArticleCount = 2;\r\n\twindow.pymntsPostID = 3649681;\r\n<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Money is moving. Tools are live. Artificial intelligence (AI) sits at the top of virtually every C-suite priority list. So why are so few organizations seeing returns? Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content \u2014 no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3649763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65579],"tags":[9498,150269,19817,9206,21283,133069],"class_list":["post-3649681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence-2","tag-ai","tag-ai-investments","tag-digital-transformation","tag-news","tag-productivity","tag-pymnts-news"],"acf":{"suggested_titles":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Human Problem Behind Every Failed AI Investment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New research from Pearson, AWS and BCG finds that workforce readiness has quietly become the biggest drag on AI returns, not technology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/artificial-intelligence-2\/2026\/the-human-problem-behind-every-failed-ai-investment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Human Problem Behind Every Failed AI Investment | PYMNTS.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Money is moving. 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