The cost of applying AI has already fallen sharply. Value realization has picked up significantly. Yet differentiation is still possible – but it will not stay that way for long. Now is the time to go all-in on AI.
Executives who invested in AI early paid a steep premium for a technology that was not yet ready. Executives who invest last will pay a different price: they will acquire the same capabilities as their competitors at roughly the same cost, but by then AI will be table stakes without a competitive advantage to show for it. Between these two failure modes lies a finite window — the second mover advantage — where costs have already fallen sharply, the technology is mature enough to deliver measurable returns, and the potential for differentiation is still real enough to justify the investment.
The business case is already measurable. Companies that have strategically integrated AI are now more than four times as likely to achieve significant EBIT impact as organizations still confined to early-stage pilots, as we found out in a recent study amongst European C-level executives. The question is no longer whether AI creates value—but when companies choose to capture it. The window of opportunity is open right now. However, it will not stay open much longer.
This report explains the mechanics behind that bold claim, shows where each major enterprise function currently sits in the window, and identifies what executives must do to capture value before it closes.
