A penny saved is a penny earned is a proverb that has existed for centuries if not longer. Some theorize that a penny saved is actually more valuable than a penny earned.
If a business earns a dollar, overhead and taxes will take a chunk of that dollar. Conversely, if a business saves a dollar, it saves the entire dollar. Saving a dollar eliminates the uncertainty of whether that dollar will be earned or not, and a saved dollar also grows when invested.
But how can a company save dollars?
One way is to incorporate AI into one’s business processes.
While there is a lot of hype that AI can help a company save money, the reality is that finding a concrete and actionable plan to incorporate AI into one’s own business is not always easy. Many companies struggle to get past the hype to a place where AI is seamlessly integrated into the business – the right way.
Incorporating AI into one’s business must be done the right way, or it could actually cost rather than save the company money. AI is a powerful tool, but like many other powerful tools, it is only as useful as the hand that wields it makes it.
An EY survey of 975 C‑suite leaders across 21 countries, representing organizations with over US$1 billion in annual revenue, found that almost all (99%) reported financial losses from AI‑related risks.
Nearly two‑thirds (64%) of respondents experienced losses exceeding US$1 million, with a conservative estimate of over US$4 million per company. The survey identified the most common AI risks as non‑compliance with AI regulations (57%), negative impacts on sustainability goals (55%), and biased outputs (53%).
The EY report also found that organizations advancing responsible AI governance, including real-time monitoring and structured oversight, were more likely to see measurable improvements in revenue growth and cost savings, which suggests a positive correlation between responsible AI practices and better business outcomes.
A separate MIT study reported that after tens of billions in enterprise AI spending, the vast majority of organizations saw no measurable P&L impact, highlighting that widespread adoption has not yet translated into widespread financial transformation.
Adoption is high. Transformation is rare.
Tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of work hours are poured into adopting AI. However, even after investing time and money, many companies fail to actually implement the AI.
AI is great if one takes care that it is used in the best way possible. Many companies use AI for tasks for which it might be ill-suited. This leads to a “workslop” tax of 2+ hours per incident to fix errors or fact check AI-created content that is wrong. For a company with 10,000 employees, this can translate to over $9 million in annual productivity losses.
30-50% of AI-related cloud spend is often wasted on idle resources or poorly optimized workloads. Some enterprises waste up to 80% of their monthly cloud budget on gimmicky or purely cosmetic AI features that serve as high-cost marketing tactics rather than delivering core business value. It’s great to have a way for customers to virtually try on clothes, but is a company actually receiving a return on investment?
Many employees want to use AI without understanding the risks. AI used without approval, oversight, or visibility from IT or leadership can result in a company’s private information being shared with AI tools that will not keep privileged information private. In addition, employees might not check the veracity of generated information.
A company’s costs may rise when many different employees are signing up for AI tools that perform the same tasks. Without a central workflow, costs of multiple subscriptions and a lack of integration may leave companies spending more than once on the same product or task. And that is assuming that the actual generated content is valuable.
Regulatory Penalties
AI is becoming increasingly more regulated. Fines for violations cost companies millions every year for non-compliance. Failure to comply with regulations can result in hefty fines for a company.
Litigation Costs
If a company does find itself in violation of AI regulations, hiring legal experts to help with the litigation process can add additional millions to the fine.
Privacy Class Actions
More people are pushing back against having their data recorded without their consent or used to train AI. Class action lawsuits are brought against companies, and statutory damages can cost thousands.
Intellectual Property Infringement
Unlike a human, AI does not consider what content is too close to actual copyrighted material. Multiple high-profile lawsuits are or have been litigated as creators sue companies whose AI-generated content infringed on his or her rights.
Companies rely on their reputations to convert customers. Even a single AI failure can impact a company’s public image. Negative publicity, customer concerns, and investor uncertainty can reduce market value and cause measurable financial repercussions.
Even one bad AI automation experience can have negative impacts. Although roughly two-thirds of customers will only consider walking away from a brand after one bad AI automation experience, around one-third of consumers will do so immediately.
AI often hallucinates, and these hallucinations might give incorrect information to users. One airline found itself in legal trouble when its AI gave erroneous responses – which cost the company embarrassing time in the headlines and a court-ordered payout.
Customers don't necessarily hate AI. They hate AI that doesn’t work.
AI augments your team…it doesn’t replace them.
Around half of the average office worker’s day revolves around repetitive tasks or work about work. That means roughly 50% of an employee’s day is spent working to actually be able to do the work for which they were hired. Well over three-quarters of employees cite these mundane and repetitive tasks as a leading cause of burnout. Over one-third of employees feel that one-quarter to one-half of their tasks are meaningless, which lowers job satisfaction.
One in three employees has considered leaving their job due to frustrating technology and repetitive work.
AI won’t replace these employees, but it will assist them in lessening or eliminating the repetitive tasks that are diminishing their productivity.
Tasks that often can be Eliminated or Streamlined with AI
By incorporating AI into a business, these tasks can be either streamlined or automated. This frees up employees to focus more on their jobs and use their skillsets to do more than sort email.
AI will be seamlessly incorporated into your existing processes
Swan Software Solutions works to incorporate AI into your existing programming and processes. It’s not about creating everything new. It is about adding AI to improve.
We help you seamlessly integrate AI into your existing applications so the only changes you’ll notice will be your savings.
Discover more about how we can help you incorporate AI into your company. Schedule a free assessment to find out how we can help you reduce costs, boost productivity, and help your company run better.
