AI Reality Check: Going For Growth

Dan Priest, U.S. Chief AI Officer at PwC.

​Roy Amara famously said that “we tend to overestimate the impact of technology in the short run and underestimate it in the long run.” In my opinion, that’s exactly what’s happening with AI.

The bigger story is what AI gives back. As the technology absorbs more work, it returns time, expertise and capacity to the business—a workforce dividend that most organizations haven’t yet decided how to spend. The ones pulling ahead are going for growth, and that decision may prove more consequential than the technology itself.

What’s different this time is the pace. According to a November 2025 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis report, GenAI adoption has occurred faster than both PCs and the internet at comparable stages following their mass-market introduction. That compressed adoption curve means delays in decision making can create gaps that widen by the month rather than the year.

I believe the truth of this moment is that AI success will be about 20% technology and 80% transformation. The technical capability is impressive, but the real value comes from changing how people, processes and organizations adapt around it. AI should be intrinsic to business strategy, not treated purely as a technology play.

The technology is good—and getting better.

AI has made remarkable progress over the past two years. Systems are more reliable, their reasoning is more consistent, and their ability to stay on task has improved dramatically. Today’s systems can sustain focus across longer and more complex chains of reasoning, making them practical co-creators for research, analysis and decision support.

The technology isn’t perfect, but the progress is real. While it’s tempting to fixate on the next leap in capability, I’d argue that consistency is the real breakthrough. The magic of AI in 2026 will be that it delivers predictable, repeatable outcomes. That reliability, priced with discipline, is what makes enterprise-wide transformation possible.