According to a new MIT research report, 95% of generative AI programs fail to deliver bottom-line results, but the 5% that succeed don’t stand out because of better data or more advanced models.
Instead, success has been shown to be driven by leadership. Interviews across Fortune 50 firms, PE portfolio companies, and nonprofits pointed to the same pattern: while most firms have access to similar technologies, the difference lies in how senior leaders embed, scale, and shape AI inside the organization.
Nearly half of surveyed executives cited leadership effectiveness as the single biggest driver of AI ROI, well ahead of workflow integration, talent, or culture.
Writing for the Harvard Business Review, authors Broek, Hellauer, and Wang introduce a new “SHAPE” framework that outlines the five behaviors that successful AI leaders display:
These “shapers” don’t just greenlight pilots, they actively model adoption, build trust, and embed AI into daily decisions. Companies that prioritize leadership development across these dimensions are far more likely to move from experimentation to scaled impact.
“What separates AI laggards from leaders is not what they know about AI but how they lead with it.” — Rens van den Broek, Samantha Hellauer, and Dina Wang
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SOURCES
Harvard Business Review, September 2025 - What Companies with Successful AI Pilots Do Differently
Yahoo! Finance, August 2025 - MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
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