Even to the casual observer, it’s clear that every software vendor is busy “AI-washing” their offerings to give the appearance of keeping up. For example, the term “artificial intelligence” was mentioned at least 50 times in the earnings calls of 12 Standard & Poor 500 companies, according to research By FactSet. The IT sector had the highest number (50) and percentage (91%) of companies citing “AI” in Q1 earnings calls.
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Meanwhile, technology executives see actual progress beneath all the AI rhetoric. At least 77% agree or strongly agree that “software companies have already advanced AI technology into their products beyond simply capitalizing on the AI hype,” according to a recent report. reconnaissance Of 1,940 executives and directors, across both the business and technology sides of the company.
The survey, conducted and published by G2, shows that these AI products are hot items. More than half, 56%, reported that their organization had purchased an AI platform within the past three months.
Most of them, 57%, expect to see a return on investment within three months of purchasing the software – especially for their AI tools. Three out of four (75%) companies with AI expect this Faster ROI Compared to typical software purchases.
At this point, AI ROI is measured by employee productivity: 44% cited this as their main metric. The next highest metric was cost savings of 42%.
AI functionality has become a critical component of software procurement processes across the software landscape. In addition to investing in core AI infrastructure, buyers are also looking for AI capabilities integrated into other purchases. Technology teams want solutions with AI functionality across a range of organizational areas, including data analytics (80%), collaboration (78%), information security (78%), sales/CRM tools (75%), and marketing solutions (73%) . ).
The G2 study also looked at trends in software purchasing habits in general; Aside from the madness of the AI, I found a greater degree of caution. Overall, a majority, 52%, expect spending to increase in 2025, while only 8% expect a decrease. This remains flat compared to the 54% forecasting increased spending in the G2 survey compared to last year. Technology managers have become more cautious and more selective about the products they choose – as mentioned above – and expect a three-month return on investment.
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The study’s authors say purchasing cycles are increasing due to more stringent checks. Purchases take longer – 49% of buyers took four months or more to make a purchase decision for software worth more than $20,000, compared to 41% last year.
The slowdown in purchasing may be due to technology teams having to defer final decisions to their finance and legal departments. At least 41% of buyers in the survey identified a C-suite employee — a CFO or higher-ranking financial officer — as the person ultimately responsible for signing off on a purchasing decision.
The CFO always – or very often – has the final decision-making authority (79%), while the legal team tends to slow down or prevent purchases in 61% of cases. The most AI-savvy users in the survey (72%) were the most likely to complain about disruption by their legal departments.
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The survey showed that software users are more likely to rely on their peers to make purchasing decisions while ignoring traditional analyst reports and vendor websites. Product review sites are the most consulted source of information, according to 31% of technology professionals and managers — up from 23% in 2023, 18% in 2022, and 13% in 2021. Forums and independent communities follow closely behind. Nearly 1 in 10 people described seller websites as “unreliable sources of information” – compared to 3% last year.