The AI Payoff Problem, Apple’s Lifelike Siri, and Why Your Finance Team Might Be Firing Excel

The hype curve is officially in its awkward phase.

A New York Times deep dive confirms what many enterprise leaders are whispering behind closed boardroom doors: AI is everywhere, but payoffs are lagging.

Meanwhile, Apple is chasing robotics and a better Siri, Google is planting flags in Oklahoma, and MIT and Stanford say finance teams are slashing their close times with AI.

Let’s dig in.

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Most Companies Are Building AI, but Few Are Profiting

The New York Times interviewed 40+ execs and found the same theme across industries: AI adoption is exploding, but profits aren’t following (yet).

Despite McKinsey’s glow-up reports and vendors promising generative everything, only 12% of companies report “meaningful” revenue lift from AI so far.

Here’s what’s really happening:

• Enterprises are investing heavily: model development, custom copilots, upskilling, and new vendors are eating budgets like it’s 1999.

• But workflows are messy: Tools don’t integrate, LLMs hallucinate, and legal teams are throwing red flags.

• And leadership is torn: Some push for aggressive adoption; others want guardrails and clearer ROI before scaling.

So what does this mean for you?

You can’t outsource strategy. Most AI projects fail not because of bad tech, but because of misaligned use cases, poor change management, or unclear value metrics.

If you want the payoff, skip the pilot purgatory and focus on:

• Ops-first implementation: Where does AI actually shave time, improve accuracy, or unlock new services?

• TAM awareness: Is this experiment solving a top-5 company problem, or just a fun prototype?

• AI Literacy Across Teams: Your engineers know it. Your accountants and compliance leads need to.

The honeymoon is over. Flashy demos are fading, and practical wins are what matter now.

Headlines to Know

1. Apple’s AI Turnaround Plan: Lifelike Siri, Home Robots, and Security Cameras
   Apple’s AI ambitions are getting weird. In a good way? TBD. They're reportedly building humanoid robots, a next-gen Siri with real emotional intelligence, and privacy-first security cams. The goal here is likely to catch up in AI hardware and embed intelligence in every corner of the home.
   Read more →

2. Google Expands to Oklahoma with $1B AI and Data Hub
   Google just dropped a billion-dollar investment in Oklahoma to build a new AI data center and support local STEM education. Translation: AI infrastructure is moving inland and attracting serious talent (and tax breaks).
   Read more →

3. AI Slashes Monthly Close Time by 75 Days, Says MIT-Stanford Study
   New research shows AI-driven tools are helping finance departments cut monthly close cycles by up to 75 days. That’s not a typo. CFOs are using machine learning to automate reconciliations, flag anomalies, and reduce manual errors. Spreadsheet-pocalypse incoming.
   Read more →

TL;DR:

• Most companies are building AI. Few are seeing real returns.

• Focus on solving enterprise-scale problems, not shiny tool adoption.

• Apple is turning Siri into a lifelike personal assistant and building home robots.

• Google’s $1B investment in Oklahoma shows AI infrastructure is scaling westward.

• CFOs are embracing AI automation, and closing books faster than ever.

I’ll leave you with this:

The next 12 months are a reality check for enterprise AI. The race will be all about who adapts with it best.

Stay sharp,

Cat Valverde
Founder, Enterprise AI Solutions
Navigating Tomorrow’s Tech Landscape Together