This concept helps boards and CIOs avoid evaluating every platform investment as though it were a stand-alone business case. Some AI spending is justified because it improves the economics of the next wave of delivery.
Glossary entry
Capability ROI
Return created by building reusable organizational capability that improves the economics of future AI work.
Why it matters
Capability ROI matters because some AI investments do not pay back through one immediate use case but through lower marginal cost, faster delivery, and stronger governance across later deployments.
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