Pressure to prove ROI is rising

In new research from Modus Create, 550 product and technology leaders share how AI is reshaping product development as it moves from experimentation to deeper integration. While the report spans modernization, governance, and team restructuring, one theme stands out: As organizations invest more in AI, the pressure to prove ROI is increasing. Read the full report here.

When product leaders first started experimenting with AI, they were often inspired by what AI could do rather than by what they should do. Teams rushed to build creative proofs of concept (PoCs) and show “AI progress.” This worked for a while, until leadership started asking the question that matters most.

What did it deliver?

That question is becoming harder to avoid. Our recent research revealed that 90% of product development decision-makers feel the pressure to prove the ROI of new products and technology has increased. As companies commit more resources to AI, stakeholders want clear evidence that these investments translate into real business value.

This shift isn’t a retreat from AI ambition but a correction. The pressure to prove ROI is prompting teams to ground their AI initiatives in outcomes, prioritizing real value over flashy projects.

Executives feel the pressure first

Interestingly, the ROI pressure isn’t felt equally across the organization. 40% of executives describe ROI pressure as significant, compared with only 19% of managers.

This gap reflects different perspectives. Executives feel pressure at the portfolio and investment level, where every initiative must justify its place in the budget. Teams on the ground experience it differently. For them, the pressure arrives through operational demands that build over time. Recognizing this difference matters because it prevents leaders from expecting AI initiatives to deliver measurable returns before the underlying work is ready.

“Teams have figured out how to move fast. But they need to understand how that speed connects to business value. Boards and investors aren’t asking how many releases you did this quarter, they’re asking what it delivered.” — Sharon Lynch, Chief Executive Officer at Modus Create

Execution is still the biggest barrier

For years, product teams believed speed was the missing ingredient. If teams could ship faster, iterate faster, and release more often, better products would follow. Agile philosophies were built around that premise.

Then, generative AI came and delivered more than expected. Product teams are now prototyping UIs in hours instead of weeks, refactoring legacy code overnight, and pushing features that once took quarters in days or even same-day cycles. As our research shows, 78% of organizations delivered more than three major product releases in a 12-month period. 33% delivered more than six.

But this acceleration is a double-edged sword. When teams can run fast, more often than not, they do so in different directions. That’s why 75% of product leaders say executing product strategy is a major barrier to success for their organization.

“Vibe coding is like one big party. You move fast, everyone’s buzzing, and something flashy gets built overnight. But when the lights come on, there are half-empty cups, a broken chandelier, and the cleanup sucks.” — Kevin McClelland, Chief Growth Officer, Modus Create

When you put these pieces together, the picture becomes clear. AI has emboldened product teams to move faster and build more. Yet in many organizations, acceleration is widening the long-standing gap between strategy and delivery. As execution strays from strategy, organizations feel increasing pressure to prove ROI.

Short-term ROI isn’t a strategy

Pressure to prove value can be healthy. But when organizations chase ROI too early, it can quietly distort how products are built.

Our research shows that 58% of decision-makers measure the success of AI-powered products primarily through ROI or revenue impact. Yet far fewer track the indicators that actually determine whether ROI will appear in the first place. Only 40% track user adoption.

This imbalance reveals a deeper problem. ROI is a lagging indicator. It reflects the outcome of many earlier decisions: the quality of data pipelines, the product's usability, and whether customers actually adopt it.

When teams optimize for ROI too early, product priorities begin to shift. Teams start pushing features for monetization before users trust them. This often leads to organizations declaring premature victories or abandoning AI initiatives before they have had time to mature.

AI doesn’t fix broken product fundamentals

As the pressure to prove ROI increases, it’s important to remember that AI can’t help you leapfrog underlying issues in your product team. If you were already struggling with the strategy/delivery divide, unclear ownership, fragmented data, or legacy infrastructure, AI will only amplify those problems.

That’s why the teams performing well with AI tend to be those that had strong fundamentals already: clear alignment between product strategy and execution, modern infrastructure capable of supporting rapid iteration, and well-defined ownership across teams.

AI will continue to evolve. Tools will change, and practices that feel advanced today will eventually become outdated. The core work of product development will not. Understanding customers, making disciplined trade-offs, choosing modern architectures that endure, and protecting trust remain the foundation. The organizations that win in this era will be those that use AI to strengthen these fundamentals, not replace them.

This blog features findings from our latest report, AI in product development: A reality check, a comprehensive study of how 550 product and technology leaders are actually deploying AI in their organizations. Access the full report here.