What happened
At the Fortune Most Powerful Women conference last week, leaders from PepsiCo, Indeed, Dropbox and Bristol Myers Squibb discussed rethinking AI's value beyond immediate financial returns. Bristol Myers Squibb is exploring a "well-being quotient" to split AI-driven productivity gains between the business and employees.
Why it matters
The debate signals that some executives are looking past short-term ROI and toward how AI's time savings affect workers, with PepsiCo's Athina Kanioura calling relentless ROI pressure "death by a thousand cuts."
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The discussion comes as companies race to capitalize on AI efficiency gains. Athina Kanioura of PepsiCo argued that requiring a business case for every AI application risks overlooking harder-to-quantify benefits, describing the relentless pursuit of ROI as "death by a thousand cuts." That view sits alongside data showing U.S. employees who frequently use AI report higher burnout rates than those who don't, according to 2026 Quantum Workplace data.
At Indeed, AI is already delivering measurable gains, and the company is looking to redirect the saved time toward creative work. Dropbox, meanwhile, is examining the risk of "cognitive atrophy" as workers outsource thinking to AI, introducing memory exercises and attention-span training. Bristol Myers Squibb is weighing how much of the productivity from automating "joyless" work should go back to employees to support well-being, though Poole said the company has not solved the split.
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