KPMG Survey: Only 35% of Enterprises Track AI Costs, Half Pause Agents Over Bills
sanjaykalra · x · 2026-08-09
KPMG's Q2 Global AI Pulse survey (n=2,145 leaders) reveals a paradox: nearly two-thirds of companies plan to incentivize employees to use more AI (even spawning internal "token-maxxing" leaderboards), yet only 35% can actually see their current AI running costs.
Key Data & Challenges:
- Value & Investment: 76% say AI is delivering meaningful business value, with planned spend holding at $188M. 79% would defend this budget even in a recession.
- Lack of Discipline: Only 40% have token budgets, and 39% have architecture or prompt design standards. A striking 49% have delayed or narrowed agent rollouts because the bill outgrew the value.
- Accountability Void: Only 24% can name who is accountable for decisions made by AI systems.
The author notes that usage opacity is the default in consumption-priced markets, and no model vendor is racing to fix it. Cost visibility and clear accountability strongly correlate with established ROI, yet many enterprises still neglect cost telemetry in their initial sprint.
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