Apollo Economist: AI Delivers Zero Financial Payoff for Most
Despite massive corporate investments and widespread technological hype, artificial intelligence has failed to improve profit margins or productivity for most companies outside the tech sector.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
The S&P 493 Findings
Artificial intelligence has not improved the bottom line of major corporations operating outside the technology industry, according to a recent note published by the chief economist at Apollo Global Management. The private equity giant, which previously owned TechCrunch, highlighted a distinct performance divide across corporate markets.
Torsten Slok, the chief economist at Apollo, focused his evaluation on what he terms the S&P 493. This grouping represents the broader S&P 500 index minus seven major tech players: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. According to Slok's findings, profit margins and revenue per worker across these remaining companies appear entirely flat, with no discernible evidence that artificial intelligence is improving operational productivity.
Despite massive capital investments and widespread hype surrounding artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of the tech sector, according to Slok's published assessment.
Skepticism Over Non-Tech Lag
Addressing the assumption that non-tech companies might simply be lagging behind early technology adopters, Slok expressed notable skepticism. He argued that it will prove exceptionally difficult for wider corporate America to effectively turn increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and stronger profit margins.
The challenges facing traditional industries go beyond simple implementation timelines or software familiarity. Economic analysts and market watchers continue to evaluate how generative tools and machine learning models integrate into standard corporate workflows, with many questioning the long-term return on investment.
The commentary underscores a growing debate within financial circles regarding whether widespread software expenditures will eventually translate into measurable macroeconomic gains or remain isolated within a handful of dominant technology firms.
Calculator Versus Human Judgment
Detailing the fundamental limitations of automated systems in corporate environments, Slok noted that while artificial intelligence may function as an exceptional calculator, business success relies on distinct human qualities. Intelligence in a commercial setting is primarily rooted in judgment.
Furthermore, Slok pointed out that automated models do not understand accountability, trust, corporate culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs, or fairness. All of these intangible elements heavily shape reputational risk and ultimately drive long-term revenue growth and profit margins.
These complex social and ethical structures within organizations cannot easily be replicated or managed by algorithmic computation, limiting the direct application of automated tools to core strategic decisions.
Broader Productivity Questions
The observations from Apollo Global Management align with broader empirical investigations across the corporate landscape. Recent studies have similarly found that artificial intelligence has yet to deliver significant productivity gains for the broader workforce.
As organizations continue to allocate capital toward emerging technologies, corporate leadership faces mounting pressure to demonstrate tangible financial returns. However, the lack of movement in revenue per worker across the S&P 493 suggests that these investments are taking longer than anticipated—or may fail entirely—to impact fundamental business metrics.
Industry observers and economic researchers will likely continue monitoring quarterly financial reports and productivity indicators to determine whether the financial gap between technology giants and the rest of corporate America begins to narrow or widen further in the future.
Sources
- TechCrunchAI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says
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