Only 3% of FTSE 100 Report a Financial Return From AI
Flexera's review of FTSE 100 annual reports finds few firms put a number on what AI delivers or costs. Far more flag AI as a risk than measure its payoff.
Big UK companies talk about artificial intelligence far more than they count it. Just 3% of FTSE 100 firms disclose a specific financial return or outcome from AI, according to new research from technology intelligence company Flexera.
Few figures in the 2025 annual reports
Flexera published its analysis on 4 November 2026. The review covered how FTSE 100 groups described AI in their 2025 annual reports.
Some 36% reported meaningful AI deployment, and 32% tied its use to identifiable business outcomes. Money was a different matter. Only 2% gave a specific figure for AI spending. None treated AI investment as a separate budget or cost line.
The 3% who name a financial return is a small share of the more than a third that say they are using the technology in earnest. Risk gets more airtime: 54% identify AI as a material or company-specific risk.
Companies may well track returns internally; the research looks only at what they publish.
Why AI spending is hard to pin down
AI costs can be spread over many lines, from licences and cloud capacity to data platforms and pay-per-use services. When several business units each buy a piece, the full cost of one project is hard to establish.
Flexera executives warn autonomous agents could add to the problem. Steve Daheb, head of AI go-to-market strategy at the company, said a single instruction can trigger repeated attempts at a task, "each drawing on more computing power and adding to the bill".
Marlon Oliver, the firm's senior vice president for EMEA, said visibility of spend is only a starting point. Counting tokens, compute and licences shows cost and usage, he argued, but not whether value is created.
Regulators are watching
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has turned its attention to AI. Its Annual Review of Corporate Reporting 2025/26 said companies need proper oversight of AI that feeds into their financial reporting.
Separate FRC research from July 2026 found companies using AI more in corporate reporting, but carefully, and mostly for tasks that carry little risk.
Our view
A productivity gain is not yet a financial result: it has to be set against what the tools cost. Without a definition of what counts as a return, a company has little to report, and an auditor little to test.
The open question is whether disclosure improves because investors demand it or because the FRC pushes for it. Next year's annual reports will show whether the 3% figure moves.
Source: Accountancy Age