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AI Economics

Turn AI Spending Into Measurable Business Value

AI spend is at an all-time high, but returns are harder to prove. CDW brings financial discipline and value measurement to AI, helping organizations understand what AI costs and the value it delivers.

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AI Has Created a New Economic Landscape

Organizations are investing heavily in AI. According to McKinsey, 88% of organizations report AI use in at least one business function, but only 39% report measurable profit impact. As AI moves from experimentation to everyday use, costs quickly become more complex.

New platforms, applications and use cases are increasing AI consumption and operational complexity. Leaders often lack visibility into which teams, products or applications are driving AI costs, while finance and technology leaders face growing pressure to connect AI spending to measurable outcomes and strategic priorities. AI economics answers that pressure by measuring what AI changes, not just what it costs.

88%

of organizations report AI use in at least one business function

39%

report measurable profit impact

Source: McKinsey, The State of AI 2025 (November 2025)

From AI Consumption to Value Realization

Effective AI economics answers two questions: Do you understand where your AI dollars are going? And are your AI investments delivering enough value? CDW brings together FinOps for AI and AI Value Assurance to move you beyond cost management to a sustainable framework for visibility, accountability, optimization and measurable business value.

FinOps for AI: Bring Visibility and Accountability to AI Spend

As AI adoption grows, spending becomes distributed across platforms, models, applications and teams. FinOps for AI creates the transparency and shared accountability you need to manage that investment with confidence.

CDW helps you identify AI investments across platforms, providers and use cases, track consumption and cost drivers, and build a more complete view of total cost of ownership. We help allocate spending to business units, products, teams or users with clear financial and operational ownership, support showback or chargeback, and establish the budgets, policies, forecasting and reporting that inform investment decisions.

Business analytics dashboard with KPI charts and trend lines measuring investment performance and business impact.

Digital data visualization with financial charts and performance metrics used to track AI spending and consumption.

AI Value Assurance: Turn AI Investment Into Measurable Impact

AI Value Assurance helps you continuously evaluate how AI initiatives are performing, improve the value they deliver and decide where to scale, adjust or redirect investment. CDW connects AI use cases to business outcomes, defines financial, operational and performance KPIs and establishes baselines to track progress. We compare results against expected value across cost, adoption, quality, risk and operational impact to identify high-performing and underperforming use cases. Then we help optimize usage and cost, scale what works, and refine, pause or redirect investment where results fall short.

Build AI Economics Maturity Across People, Process and Technology

AI economics maturity requires progress across people, process, technology and value measurement, not simply better cost-reporting tools. It starts with clear executive sponsorship, ownership and collaboration among finance, technology, engineering and business teams. It depends on repeatable budgeting, allocation, forecasting, governance and optimization practices. And it runs on reliable consumption data, reporting, KPIs and measurement of business outcomes. CDW helps you advance on all three fronts so visibility and value increase across the business.

Business team reviewing analytics and reports during a collaborative technology planning session.

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CDW Helps You Maximize the Value of AI Investments

We help organizations bring financial discipline and value measurement to AI, with the expertise and frameworks needed to understand investments, strengthen accountability, optimize performance and deliver measurable outcomes.

Assess AI Economics

Establish a clear baseline of AI spend, consumption, governance and value maturity, so you know where you stand before deciding where to invest next.

Build Accountability

Create the governance and ownership needed to manage AI investments responsibly, with clear roles across finance, technology and business teams.

Assure Business Value

Connect AI initiatives to clear expectations and measurable business outcomes, with KPIs and baselines that show what AI is changing.

Optimize and Evolve

Continuously improve AI economics as business priorities, technology and consumption change.