FT charts point to AI ROI: top 3 AI-adopting US sectors doubled productivity growth to 5%
GavinSBaker · x · 2026-11-02
Gavin Baker reads FT's charts as macro evidence of "ROI on AI": the three heaviest AI-adopting US sectors (information, professional services, finance) saw productivity growth jump from a 2.2% trend to 5.0% since 2022, while the rest of the economy moved only from 0.9% to 1.4% (EPB Research, 15% of jobs).
- FT data shows US output per worker in AI-adopting sectors breaking above the 2012-19 trend after ChatGPT's launch; UK, Canada and the EU show no similar break
- a16z portfolio revenue-per-employee data and Anthropic's US-heavy revenue mix (72% vs 50% for most application software) explain why the effect appears in the US first
- Baker disagrees with FT's John Burn-Murdoch's conclusion but sees the data itself as supporting real AI-driven productivity gains
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