Why 95% of AI rollouts fail and what L&D leaders can do about it

Why 95% of AI rollouts fail and what L&D leaders can do about it 
Big Think+; 10/7/25 
Companies are pouring resources into AI, yet capability gaps hold employees back from using it effectively. ... MIT recently reported that 95 percent of AI projects fail to deliver measurable outcomes. Despite the unprecedented investment, productivity gains are elusive, employee adoption is shaky, and the business case often collapses under scrutiny. How can we surround ourselves with the most powerful technology in human history, spend billions deploying it, and still struggle to prove it makes us better? The answer isn’t hiding in the models or the code. The real story and the real risk are sitting right in front of us. ... If you only push the tech, you’ll be part of the 95 percent of failures. If you only focus on people, you’ll underestimate what’s at stake. Success requires advancing both at the same time, with equal intentionality.
Editor's Note: Memorable quote from the end of this article, "... the story of AI won’t be written by the algorithms we build but by the humans we choose to become."