Enterprises spent $30-40 billion on generative AI pilots last year. According to MIT research, 95% of them show no measurable impact on the bottom line. That gap — massive spend, almost no return — is the subject of keynote speaker Matt Mayberry’s new white paper, The AI Advantage (click to open this document).
Mayberry, a 2x Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author and former NFL linebacker for the Chicago Bears, argues the problem was never the technology. MIT, RAND, and BCG all point to the same root cause: leadership. BCG estimates 70% of the challenge in capturing AI value is people and process, not algorithms.
The numbers behind the gap:
- 95% of enterprise GenAI pilots deliver no measurable P&L impact (MIT)
- 42% of companies abandoned most of their AI initiatives in 2025, up from 17% the year before (S&P Global)
- Only 6% of organizations qualify as AI “high performers” with real bottom-line impact (McKinsey)
Mayberry’s five-pillar framework for closing that gap:
- Ownership in the AI Era — A named executive, not IT, owns AI’s financial outcomes.
- From User to Leader — Leaders build real fluency and model it publicly instead of just mandating adoption.
- Monetization Over Experimentation — Every initiative needs a quantified P&L thesis and a kill date, or it doesn’t get funded.
- Decision Superiority — AI makes decisions faster, not better; leaders redesign workflows and decision rights to make speed count.
- Value Creation at Scale — Data shows amplifying people beats replacing them; workforce cuts show no correlation with better AI returns.
His conclusion: “AI is not the advantage. How you lead it is.”
The AI Advantage is now Mayberry’s flagship keynote for executive audiences, paired with a practical 90-day roadmap for closing the value gap. It’s a timely message for any organization asking whether its AI spend is actually paying off — and a strong fit for leadership conferences, corporate retreats, and executive off-sites.
Interested in bringing Matt Mayberry’s AI Advantage keynote to your next event? Contact us to check availability and fees.
