2025 Gartner® Report

The 3 Business Cases
of Generative AI Value

One of the key findings in this report: "Generative AI (GenAI) initiatives fall into three distinct business case patterns based on the impact they have on an organization's differentiation: defend, extend, upend."

If you’ve ever struggled to quantify the return on GenAI investments, you’re not alone. Here’s why: Not all GenAI initiatives deliver value that is measurable as ROI. According to Gartner, “GenAI initiatives produce outcomes that range from everyday to game-changing and cannot be described by a single currency of value.”

In an insightful analysis, they identify three business case patterns based on the impact that they have on an organization’s differentiation strategy and provide a cost benefit analysis for each one.

1.
Defend initiatives enhance individual productivity and protect competitive advantage.
2.
Extend initiatives transform existing processes for competitive differentiation.
3.
Upend initiatives disrupt by creating new value propositions, products, or markets.

Considering additional factors impacting the actual value of each business case pattern, the analysis offers actionable recommendations on how organizations can structure their GenAI investment portfolio to match their desired value outcomes.

This analysis reveals:

Three business case patterns based on organizational impact.
Cost-benefit insights tailored to each pattern.
Actionable recommendations to align GenAI investments with your strategic goals.

This must-read analysis comes with a complementary slide deck that we believe facilitates discussions with the C-Suite towards creating a strong value proposition for your organization’s GenAI investments.

Gartner, The 3 Business Cases of Generative AI Value, 6 January 2025, Nate Suda, Hung LeHong

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2025 Gartner® Report

The 3 Business Cases
of Generative AI Value