AI's Proven, Its Value Isn't

The AI Adoption Podcast · Jul 16, 2026 · 28m

Cost cutting in customer service ended in 30% pay rises. The organisations that put AI agents live in spring 2025 were, by the autumn, paying 30% above market rate to keep the staff their business case had counted as savings. The AI agents took the easy questions and left people who were harder to replace.

Ed Thompson, Senior Vice President for Market Strategy at Salesforce, argues the proof of concept is over and the proof of value is the next frontier.

Around three quarters of companies can evidence time savings while only 10 per cent of finance directors can see a financial benefit…