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Report: 57% of execs demand AI ROI in weeks

March 12, 2026

With businesses under more pressure than ever to demonstrate tangible returns on their AI investments, research from Extreme Networks suggests that executives and IT teams are building trust with AI – and now it’s time to deliver results and scale. As expectations around AI ROI continue to rise, projects need to deliver near-term value or risk being shelved.
The State of AI for Networking 2026 report found that 57 per cent of executives now expect to see measurable returns on their AI investments within weeks, or even sooner – an increase from just 16 per cent last year. This near fourfold shift in a single year far outpaces the typical payback period for traditional technology investments and highlights how AI has become an immediate business imperative for leaders.
Other key findings include:
  • 77 per cent of executives expect to see returns within a quarter
  • 74 per cent of respondents define AI success by improved operational efficiency – signaling how much time and effort is still spent on manual processes
  • CISOs have even higher expectations, with 14 per cent expecting results within the same timeframe
Boards are increasingly scrutinising AI projects that fail to show immediate financial returns. In response, executives will prioritise use cases with fast, tangible outcomes, with enterprise networking emerging as one of the few areas where AI is delivering immediate impact.
What organisations are seeing:

Among the 90 per cent of organisations already reporting measurable returns from AI in networking, the benefits are wide-ranging:
  • Improved productivity (77 per cent) and cost savings (52 per cent) are the most common gains
  • Better end-user experience (66 per cent), improved security posture (60 per cent), increased staff productivity (59 per cent), and improved compliance (57 per cent) also feature prominently
  • 63 per cent saw results within a quarter and 87 per cent within six months or less
Monica Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme Networks, commented: “These trends signal a clear turning point. AI isn’t just changing applications or workflows, it is reshaping what the network must be capable of. Complexity, inefficiency, and fragmentation are no longer sustainable when AI operates at the core of the business. The implication is clear: organisations that modernise their networks to support AI will move faster, operate more securely, and extract greater value from every AI investment. Those that don’t risk turning AI ambition into operational drag.”

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