<h2 id="72776193-447c-4f4c-acfc-5b723b0499e6" data-toc-id="72776193-447c-4f4c-acfc-5b723b0499e6" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Know what the number measures</h2><p>AI training can be worth evaluating without borrowing an impressive return from a different kind of investment. Before quoting a statistic, ask who was studied, what was measured and whether it answers your question.</p><h2 id="4c27e5e7-8e3d-4e48-8443-87fff1edd263" data-toc-id="4c27e5e7-8e3d-4e48-8443-87fff1edd263" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Adoption is not training effectiveness</h2><p>The Conference Board's 28 July 2026 release draws on a global survey of nearly 1,300 workers and interviews with 35 enterprise leaders. It reports 55.1% using generative AI or AI agents daily or weekly, 33.3% using employer-provided AI training in the previous six months, and 28.3% saying their employer provides no AI training.</p><p>Those are separate population measures. They do not identify which users trained or prove that your own team's AI use is unsupervised. They provide context for asking better local questions.</p><h2 id="1b36473c-0a0d-4184-b910-4d48beaa4376" data-toc-id="1b36473c-0a0d-4184-b910-4d48beaa4376" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Broad AI investment is a different measure</h2><p>A 2023 IDC study commissioned by Microsoft reported an average $3.50 return per $1 invested in AI among its respondents. It covers AI investment broadly. It is not a measured return for your training course, and it should not be presented as one.</p><p>PwC's 2025 AI Jobs Barometer reports wage patterns associated with AI skills. That is observational labor-market evidence, not proof that taking a course causes a particular pay increase.</p><h2 id="0489d2fb-8ad7-41e1-88ec-70922ada47db" data-toc-id="0489d2fb-8ad7-41e1-88ec-70922ada47db" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Evaluate your own training</h2><p>Choose a representative task before training. Record accepted output quality, source checks, errors, rework and time. Repeat comparable work afterward and document other changes that could affect the result.</p><ul><li><p>Count the full costs: learning time, course fees, tools, setup, coaching and evaluation.</p></li><li><p>Report quality and appropriate judgment alongside speed.</p></li><li><p>Separate time released for other work from actual reductions in spending.</p></li><li><p>State assumptions when assigning money values to benefits.</p></li></ul><p>If you calculate financial ROI, define the period and use net attributable benefits relative to total costs. Keep uncertain estimates visible. Confidence and attendance can be useful signals, but neither is financial return.</p><h2 id="e1a6ea31-3f9c-41e3-8750-14417337106c" data-toc-id="e1a6ea31-3f9c-41e3-8750-14417337106c" style="text-align: left; font-size: 24px; line-height: 1.2;">Let the result guide the next step</h2><p>A 60- or 90-day review is one possible design, depending on the task cycle. Expand, adjust or stop based on the evidence. You do not need to claim that nobody else has measured training ROI to make your own evaluation worthwhile.</p><p>What recurring task would give you a useful baseline this week?</p><p>Sources: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.conference-board.org/press/ai-skilling">The Conference Board, 2026</a>; <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/2023/11/US51315823-IG-ADA.pdf">IDC/Microsoft, 2023</a>; <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/artificial-intelligence/job-barometer/2025/report.pdf">PwC, 2025</a>.</p>

Separate AI adoption, broad investment and wage research from training ROI, then measure your own costs, quality and attributable benefits.

What the Data Actually Says About AI Training ROI

Broad AI investment is a different measure

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What the Data Actually Says About AI Training ROI

What the Data Actually Says About AI Training ROI

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