ROI or Vanity Spend? How CHROs Can Turn AI Investment Into Real Business Impact

Part 4 of 5 in The CHRO’s Reframe series
Strategic Questions That Reframe Capability as Competitive Edge

Welcome to Week 4 in this five-part series on the big conversations every CHRO should be driving around AI.

So far, we’ve covered AI risk, workforce transformation, and governance.

This week, we tackle the question you may already be getting in boardrooms and ELT meetings:

“We’ve spent all this money on AI, where’s the ROI?”

Here’s the hard truth: most companies are overspending on tools and underspending on the people and processes that actually deliver value.

The shift? Position AI investment as a capability strategy, one that builds a moat competitors can’t easily cross, instead of just another tech upgrade.

🔹 Domain 4: AI Investment Strategy and Business Value Creation

The real value of AI doesn’t come from software. It comes from how your people use it to solve problems no one else can.

These three questions can help you reframe AI spend so your CEO sees it as a competitive edge, not a budget line item.

1. How does our AI investment drive sustainable competitive advantage, not just short-term efficiency?

What this really means:
If your AI investment is 90% tech and 10% transformation, you’re almost guaranteed to fall short. ROI comes from changing how work gets done, and that starts with people.

How to answer in your next ELT meeting:

• “We could spend $1M on AI tools and hope people adopt them.”

• “Or we could spend $250K on tech and $750K training our people to be AI experts.”

• “The second path creates capabilities our competitors can’t buy or copy.”

Position yourself as:
The strategic investor, the one who builds lasting advantage, not just follows the latest trend.

2. What’s our ROI model for AI talent development, and how does it stack up against our competitors?

What this really means:
The top players are building AI fluency across their workforce. If you’re not, you’re already behind, and it will cost more to catch up later.

How to answer:

• “Leaders are spending $25K per person on AI training. We’re at $2K.”

• “Replacing talent costs $75K. Training costs $25K, and drives 40% more productivity.”

• “Every trained employee becomes harder to poach and more valuable to us.”

Position yourself as:
The competitive capability builder, the CHRO who turns AI into a long-term differentiator.

3. How are we using AI to unlock new revenue streams and business models?

What this really means:
AI shouldn’t just make existing work faster. It should open doors to services, products, or markets you couldn’t access before.

How to answer:

• “AI lets us productize internal HR insights that others would pay to license.”

• “We’re building predictive services for clients we couldn’t support before.”

• “Our people plus AI are creating IP we can monetize, not just operate more efficiently.”

Position yourself as:
The innovation engine, the one who uses AI to create entirely new ways of making money.

🧠 How to Make It Land in the C-Suite

• Speak in P&L terms: cost-to-deliver, time-to-value, revenue unlock

• Compare capability ROI to tool ROI

• Call out where your investment creates a moat competitors can’t cross

• Tie workforce transformation directly to business outcomes

👇 Coming Up Next Week: Domain 5, Strategic Leadership in the AI-Transformed Business Landscape

We’ll look at leading the shift from reactive AI adoption to proactive business model transformation.

🎯 Want to shortcut all five conversations, and hear exactly how your CHRO peers are navigating this?

Join me in Dallas on September 12, 2025, for The Big CHRO Event.

No vendors. No buzzwords. Just real strategic conversations with CHROs who are in the thick of it, and willing to share.

👉 Secure your seat here: https://www.chropartners.com/bigchro25dfw