ONLY 26% OF COMPANIES TRACK AI SPENDING

According to KPMG's latest research, 74 percent of companies cannot accurately track how much they spend on AI initiatives. This widespread blindness around AI budgets creates significant challenges for cost management and ROI assessment across industries. The inability to monitor AI spending stems from several factors. Many organizations deploy AI tools across multiple departments without centralized oversight. Cloud-based AI services often embed costs in broader infrastructure bills, making them difficult to isolate. Additionally, some companies lack dedicated teams or processes to categorize and monitor AI-related expenses. This visibility gap has immediate consequences. Companies cannot accurately calculate returns on AI investments or determine which projects deliver value. Budget allocation becomes inefficient, potentially leading to overspending in some areas while critical initiatives remain underfunded. The lack of tracking also hampers efforts to optimize costs or renegotiate vendor contracts. The 26 percent with full visibility likely benefit from structured approaches. These companies typically implement dedicated cost allocation systems, assign ownership of AI budgets to specific teams, and conduct regular audits of AI-related expenses. They treat AI spending as a distinct line item rather than lumping it into general technology budgets. Experts recommend companies establish clear governance frameworks for AI spending. This includes documenting all AI tools and services in use, implementing tagging systems for cloud-based expenses, and conducting quarterly cost reviews. Organizations should also designate accountability for AI budgets and establish thresholds for spending approval. As AI adoption accelerates, cost management becomes increasingly critical. Companies that gain visibility into their AI spending now will be better positioned to make strategic decisions about which capabilities to invest in and which to discontinue. The KPMG findings suggest this remains an urgent gap for most organizations seeking to manage AI as a strategic business investment rather than an uncontrolled expense.