Zip: How AI 'Builders' are Powering ROI

Zip's latest State of Spend Report argues that procurement is uniquely positioned to close the gap between AI spend and AI proof, provided it moves quickly.

Zip has published its latest State of AI in Spend report, which has revealed that companies deploying AI deeply are seeing six times the ROI of those still stuck in pilots, but only 17% of organisations have unlocked that level of return so far.

Builders versus Bystanders

The State of AI in Spend 2026 is Zip's annual research report on how organisations are adopting AI across procurement, finance and business spend. The report is based on a global survey of 1,050 procurement, finance, IT and operations leaders who manage spend at primarily large enterprises with over 1,000 employees.

The report reveals that there is a real split in the market, with two starkly different cohorts: 'Builders', who are deploying AI deeply and seeing real measurable returns, and 'Bystanders', who have invested little into pilots or are seeing nothing for it.

"The Builders are showing everyone else the way," says Nick Heinzmann, Head of Research at Zip.

"Their edge isn't bigger budgets, it's treating AI as a team-wide transformation instead of another tool. That's worth 6x the ROI and closing that gap is within reach for other companies willing to go deeper."

Depth, not budget, drives returns

The data shows it's deployment depth, not investment size, that separates the two groups. Organisations deploying AI widely are six times more likely to report clear ROI than those still piloting or exploring (39% versus 6.5%).

Yet the pattern breaks down among the largest companies: organisations with 50,000 or more employees are the most likely to deploy AI widely (33%) but the least likely to show clear ROI (11%) – proof that scale alone doesn't translate into returns.

The gap compounds from there: 71% of Builders are very confident in their ability to put AI to work over the next two to three years, compared with just 11% of Bystanders.

Key findings from the report

Key findings from Zip's State of AI in Spend 2026 include:

• Builders are already living in the future. 55% run AI across most or all of their processes today (versus just 4% of everyone else), and 79% expect deep transformation within five years (versus 22% of everyone else).
• Depth beats budget, by 6x. Organisations deploying AI widely are six times more likely to report clear ROI than those still piloting or exploring (39% versus 6.5%).
• AI use is now a daily habit. 62% of leaders say they use AI multiple times a day.
• Shadow AI is now mainstream – and IT leads it. 57% of respondents have used AI tools their employer hasn't sanctioned, and 64% of IT respondents admit to it, the highest of any function surveyed. Counting those who've considered it, 68% are using or want to use unapproved AI.
• Headcount expectations are tilting down. 33% expect the team managing third-party spend to shrink within five years, against 26% who expect it to grow. Nearly half of organisations have already cut or consolidated roles because AI can do the work (29%) or plan to (19%).
• Productivity gains are real, but skill effects are uneven. 89% say AI is a net productivity gain even after accounting for time spent correcting its mistakes. But the erosion of some skills alongside gains in others is concentrated below the executive level – 13% of managers report this mixed effect, versus 6% of executives.
• Builders and Bystanders are diverging fast. 84% of Builders use AI daily in their own work, and 71% are confident in deploying it further, compared with 11% of Bystanders.

Procurement's opportunity to close the gap

The report believes that procurement is in a unique position to be the one that closes the gap between AI spend and AI proof, provided it moves quickly, with 63% of those who responded expecting procurement's influence to grow over the next three to five years – a figure that jumps to 85% among Builders.

The study was conducted in partnership with research firm Prolific and is based on a survey of 1,050 procurement, finance, IT and operations leaders who manage spend, representing large organisations across North America, Europe and the UK.