Virtual Roundtable
AI Value Realization: Moving From ROI Doubt to Governed Confidence
October 8, 2026 | 1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT
Many organizations are seeing results from AI, but proving its value remains a challenge. According to IDC research, 54% of global organizations say more than half of their AI projects have delivered measurable business outcomes. Bu the biggest barriers are competition for resources with other IT initiatives (40%) and difficulty demonstrating ROI to stakeholders (38%).
Only one in five organizations qualifies as a digital and AI leader. These organizations are more likely to measure AI value effectively through centralized performance dashboards, embedded governance processes, and clear baseline metrics. Organizations without these structures often struggle with budgeting, planning, and demonstrating business impact.
At the same time, AI value extends beyond traditional ROI metrics to include improved customer experience, faster innovation, and stronger employee retention. As costs and returns remain unpredictable, leading organizations are expanding how they evaluate AI by combining business value and cost measures across their AI portfolios rather than assessing projects in isolation.
To explore how organizations are justifying AI investments and communicating AI-driven value, IDC, Arrow, and Protiviti are bringing together senior IT and business leaders for a discussion on proving AI’s business impact.
Perceived difficulty of assessing ROI of AI investments (by Digital and AI Business Capability tier)
42% of leading organizations (tying businesssuccess to digital and AI investments) describe AIROI assessment as “straightforward“, comparedwith only 26% of nascent organizations (stillmissing out on opportunities and lagging industrynorms). 29% of nascent organizations find it“difficult to assess,” nearly double the 15% ofleading peers at the same level.
Leading organizations build measurability into theirAI programs with centralized AI performancedashboards, ROI frameworks embedded directlyinto project governance, and defined baselinemetrics. Nascent organizations, by contrast, areheld back by the absence of these foundations.
Source: IDC’s WW Digital and AI Executive Sentiment Survey, November2025; (n = 1,729 respondents)
57% of North American organizations report that
more than half of their AI projects have delivered measurable business outcomes.
Discussion Themes
Five Conversations Every Senior IT Leader Should Be Having Right Now
Assessing AI Business Capabilities
Leading organizations use AI to build new products and services, while nascent ones use it mainly for internal efficiency. Where organizations fall today, how much of their business already runs on digital and AI initiatives, and how fast that is expected to change.
Making the Budget Case
AI competes for attention and budget with different business priorities across capability tiers. How leaders are deciding where AI investment fits against other IT and digital priorities, the reasoning behind those calls, and the budget movements expected in the next year
ROI: Quantifying the Worth
Proving AI is working requires confident infrastructure: baselines, dashboards, ownership. What leaders are using today to measure AI ROI, how projects are performing against return targets, and how to close the framework gaps.
Realizing AI Value
Beyond ROI math, AI benefits cluster in indirect, often intangible outcomes. How leaders are separating direct or monetizable returns from indirect ones, and how they are building that into a case decision-makers can act on.
What To Expect
A live video meeting led by a skilled host/moderator
An intimate gathering of senior leaders from diverse industries, grappling with similar issues
A secure, private conversation open only to a carefully vetted group (no recording, no playback)
Your hosts
Kevin Prouty
Group Vice President & General Manager, Tech Buyer Business
IDC
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Kevin Prouty
Kevin Prouty is Group Vice President and General Manager for IDC’s Tech Buyer business unit. He is responsible for managing a global group of analysts and consultants that provide research-based advisory, benchmarking, consulting, and career development services for technology executives. Kevin also specializes in industrial and operational research.
BACKGROUND
Prior to his current role, Kevin led the worldwide manufacturing and energy research groups in IDC’s Industry Insights business. Before joining IDC he was SVP of Research at Aberdeen Group. He also spent over five years as Sr. Director of Manufacturing and Energy Solutions at Motorola and was the resident expert on technology’s role in continuous improvement. Prior to Motorola, he was Research Director for Manufacturing and Automotive at AMR Research and Gartner, where he spent a cumulative six years. Leading up to his research role, Kevin spent over 15 years as both a user and system integrator of operations software. Twelve of those years was as a plant manager and project manager at a global manufacturer, managing a large workforce and business that produced tooling for automotive and industrial companies. He was responsible for all automation of the facility and energy plant, including integration of automated process and information systems into all aspects of the business. In addition, Kevin helped lead the re -engineering team that implemented ERP and shop floor systems throughout the company. Kevin also managed the building, start up, and initial operation of a plant in China from 1992 to 1993.
Kimberly Lanier
Managing Director
Protiviti
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Kimberly Lanier
Kimberly Lanier is a Managing Director in our People Advisory & Organizational Change Segment. In this role, she is responsible for leading the Human Capital Reporting segment of HR Transformation. Kimberly has over 20 years of experience in HR, Performance and People Analytics and has worked with many F500 global brands to quantify and amplify the value of their workforce. She is a frequent speaker, author and advisory board member of organizations such as University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business, Enterprise Engagement Institute, and Hoopla. Kimberly has been noted as a Top 100 Global Influencer on Inspiring Workplaces since 2016 and is a judge for the 2021 Global Employee Engagement Awards.
Patrick Anderson
Managing Director
Protiviti
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Patrick Anderson
Patrick Anderson has over 25 years of experience in IT and Technology, specializing in AI, cloud computing, cloud economics, data strategy and analytics, program and project management, agile transformation, and organizational change management. He holds numerous certifications, including Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Agile Scrum Master, Data Protection Officer, and Generative AI Solutions with Azure OpenAI Service. Patrick has been working with linguistic processing since 1998 and ML/Predictive since 2017.
Patrick has impacted organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 30 companies and has extensive experience in the retail industry. Throughout his career, Patrick has formed alliances and channel teams focused on Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform. He has also authored four partner playbooks for starting a cloud alliance with Microsoft.
Will Thomas
Managing Director
Protiviti
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Will Thomas
Will is a Managing Director currently leading Protiviti’s Cloud Optimize practice within the Global Enterprise Cloud segment and serves as the Global Microsoft Azure lead, collaboratively partnering with Microsoft across solution and account teams to participate in key partner programs and client services. He has twenty-five years of experience managing cross-functional teams to deliver cloud-native and web-based solutions on an array of platforms with a proven ability to bridge technology and business goals to provide productive solutions. He is an excellent communicator, with an emphasis on building strong client relationships, supports clients to continuously mature cloud offerings within the enterprise and works to establish centralized systems which provide clarity and optimization to overall cloud operations.
Sponsored By
Arrow
A global provider of electronic components and enterprise computing products, the company specializes in distribution and value-added services for original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, managed service providers, contract manufacturers and other commercial customers.
Protiviti
Protiviti is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Our consulting solutions span critical business problems in technology, digital, business process, analytics, risk, compliance, transactions and internal audit. We are committed to attracting and developing a diverse workforce of professionals who share the values of integrity, inclusion and innovation. We believe that by teaming together with our clients, we can tackle the business challenges presented by a dynamic world and discover and implement innovative, efficient and effective business solutions.
Our more than 11,000 people serve clients ranging from business, governments, public-sector agencies, not-for-profits through the network of Protiviti and independently owned member firms in more than 90 offices in over 25 countries. We have served more than 80 percent of Fortune 100 and nearly 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies. Our people and organisation have consistently been recognised by Fortune and Consulting Magazine as a best company to work for.
