Apollo chief economist: AI has delivered zero financial payoff outside Big Tech
rseroter · x · 2026-10-27
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, argues AI has yet to improve the bottom line of any major corporation outside tech. Looking at the "S&P 493" (S&P 500 minus Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla), he finds profit margins and revenue per worker essentially flat, with no evidence of AI-driven productivity gains.
"Despite massive investments and widespread hype, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech," Slok writes. He's skeptical that non-tech firms are simply lagging behind — arguing it will be tough for companies to turn increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and margins.
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