Companies are beginning to demand more from AI than efficiency or cost reduction: measurable business results.

According to the Value of AI Report 2026, produced by SAP and Oxford Economics, organisations expect the average return on their AI investments to increase 2.5-fold over the next two years.

The study also points to a significant development for technology sectors such as AV integration. As AI is incorporated into meeting rooms, control centres, corporate spaces, retail environments and audiovisual infrastructures, the debate is beginning to shift from adding new features towards a more specific question: what value does this intelligence actually bring to the operation of the space and its users?

According to SAP and Oxford Economics, companies expect to achieve an average ROI of $6.3 million in 2026, equivalent to approximately 21% of an average investment estimated at $28 million per organisation.

Within two years, that return is expected to reach an average of $15.9 million, approximately 38% of the investment, representing a 2.5-fold increase over the current return.

Agentic AI gains momentum

The report highlights growing expectations around agentic AI: systems capable not only of analysing information, but also of performing certain actions autonomously within defined objectives.

ROI expectations associated with this technology have risen from 10% to 17% in one year. The companies surveyed estimate that it could generate an average return of $17.6 million over the next two years, more than four times the estimate made the previous year. This development could prove relevant for increasingly automated technology environments.

From AI in software to AI within AV spaces

From an audiovisual integration perspective, this development raises an interesting question. Artificial intelligence is already appearing across different layers of AV installations: automatic tracking cameras, intelligent audio processing, meeting transcription and summarisation, content management, occupancy analytics, room automation, system diagnostics and tools that help optimise the operation of specific devices.

The next step will probably be to measure these capabilities by the results they generate, rather than simply by their presence within the product. For an AV integrator, this could mean that a project’s argument gradually shifts from “this system incorporates AI” to more specific questions:

• how much operating time it can save;
• how much it can reduce incidents or technical call-outs;
• how it improves room utilisation;
• which tasks it can automate;
• how it facilitates collaboration;
• or to what extent it improves the management of a distributed audiovisual infrastructure.

In control centres, for example, AI can help organise and prioritise information. In corporate spaces, it can automate cameras, audio or meeting configurations. In retail, it can support content personalisation and management. In larger installations, it can contribute to predictive maintenance or detect anomalies before they become operational incidents.

This presents an important consequence for integrators: AI can become another layer of AV infrastructure, but its usefulness will need to be justified in operational and economic terms.

Success is no longer measured by savings alone

SAP’s report reflects this change in approach. Although 69% of organisations say they are satisfied with the returns achieved so far, an almost identical 67% believe they are still not taking full advantage of artificial intelligence’s potential. Furthermore, only 22% of the companies surveyed disagree with the idea that AI returns should increasingly be measured by the value generated for the business, rather than exclusively through cost savings.

The areas in which companies perceive the greatest benefits include knowledge generation and decision-making, relationships with customers and prospects, productivity, and the speed of project execution and implementation.

A new question for technology projects

This shift is significant because it could also affect how technology investments are justified.

For years, much of an AV integration project’s value has been measured through parameters such as audiovisual quality, reliability, coverage, ease of use and collaboration capabilities.

With the gradual incorporation of AI, another question will probably need to be added: what return does the intelligence built into the system generate?

This will not necessarily always have to be expressed in direct revenue. It may translate into less support time, greater space utilisation, fewer manual tasks, improved productivity, shorter response times or a simpler user experience.

This change in criteria could ultimately prove more important for the AV market than the emergence of new artificial intelligence features themselves.

The Value of AI Report 2026 is based on a survey of 2,600 executives from organisations across 13 countries.