Azhar: two-thirds of IT chiefs see AI results, only 8 would call the CEO

The wider debate hanging over this anecdote is simple to state and hard to settle: is revenue at AI labs growing fast enough to pay for the massive data center buildout? Azeem Azhar, a British tech entrepreneur who founded the research group Exponential View, frames the answer as 'finely balanced' and offers the Las Vegas room as evidence on the cautious side. Two-thirds of the roughly 160 IT vice presidents could point to measurable AI results — more than he expected — yet only about eight could claim results good enough to interrupt the CEO's summer vacation.

What makes the picture murkier is that the same companies Azhar describes as moving slowly are also changing what they buy. Many are shifting away from expensive frontier models toward open-weight alternatives. In that scenario, AI usage might keep growing while the money flowing back to fund the buildout does not, which is how a bubble could still burst. Azhar also points to a Boston Consulting Group survey finding that about 70 percent of CEOs worldwide say AI success matters for how they're perceived in their roles — a reason to doubt rosy executive surveys. He stresses that he doesn't have a simple answer himself.

For the executives and boards weighing next year's budgets, the test is likely not whether AI works somewhere in the company, but whether the wins are large enough to justify the spending — and whether the pace of those wins holds up as cheaper open-weight options spread. Some signs cut the other way: Azhar heard from CEOs in slower markets like Italy that trust is building and budgets are rising despite missteps along the way. Whether those budgets keep rising is the thing to watch.