IBM Study: More Companies Turning to Open-Source AI Tools to Unlock ROI

• 85% of IT decision-makers reported progress in their companies’ 2024 AI strategy, with 47% achieving positive ROI.
• Nearly half of surveyed companies plan to leverage open-source AI to optimise their investments in 2025.

New research commissioned by IBM (NYSE: IBM) reveals that companies are committed to long-term AI investments, with increasing interest in using open-source tools to drive ROI and foster innovation in the future.

A study of over 2,400 IT decision-makers (ITDMs), conducted by Morning Consult and developed in collaboration with Lopez Research, found that 85% of respondents are progressing with their 2024 AI strategy, with nearly half (47%) already experiencing positive ROI from their AI investments. The data also suggests a link between open-source AI tools and greater financial success: 51% of companies using open-source AI tools report positive ROI, compared to just 41% of those not utilising open-source solutions.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents plan to increase their AI investments in 2025, with 48% aiming to leverage open-source ecosystems to optimise their AI implementations. Among companies not currently using open-source, 40% intend to adopt it for AI implementation in 2025.

“As organisations scale AI implementation, many are focusing more on success metrics like productivity gains, as traditional hard dollar ROI benefits have yet to appear on the balance sheets,” said Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research. “However, companies continue to push forward with their AI strategies, showing no signs of slowing down. They now understand the importance of defining specific use cases and optimising AI projects, using hybrid cloud strategies and open-source tools to drive innovation and achieve financial returns.”

Further study findings include:

Enterprises are ramping up AI investment but with a greater strategic focus.

• 89% of surveyed organisations plan to either increase or maintain their AI investment in 2025.
• Of the 62% planning to increase their investment, 39% aim to boost spending by 25–50%.
• Only 5% of respondents intend to decrease their AI spending, with none planning reductions greater than 50%.
• AI investments are being directed toward key areas, including IT operations (63% of respondents), data quality management (46%), and product/service innovation (41%).
• For 2025, IT decision makers (ITDMs) are focusing on strategic changes such as using managed cloud services (51%), hiring specialized talent (48%), and leveraging open-source tools (48%) to optimize their AI investments.

Open source is becoming crucial to companies’ AI strategies

• 6 in 10 IT decision makers (ITDMs) surveyed report using open-source ecosystems as a source for AI tools, with 41% of AI solutions expected to be based on open source in 2025, up from 37% in 2024.
• Over 80% of respondents say at least a quarter of their company’s AI solutions or platforms are based on open source.
• The likelihood of using open-source solutions increases with company size, with larger companies more likely to rely on open source for the majority of their AI solutions.
• Companies utilising open-source ecosystems are more likely to achieve positive ROI (51%), compared to those not using open source (41%).
• 38% of companies leveraging open-source ecosystems plan to launch 21+ AI pilots in 2025, compared to 26% of those not using open source for AI tooling.

Organizations report successfully advancing their AI projects, but often through less traditional ROI metrics

• 85% of surveyed IT decision makers (ITDMs) report progress in executing their AI strategy, with only 9% reporting no progress.
• 58% of respondents indicate their company moves from AI pilot to full production in less than a year.
• 31% of companies say their AI investments are more innovation-driven, 28% focus more on ROI, and 41% balance both innovation and ROI.
• The top three ROI metrics for ITDMs are faster software development (25%), more rapid innovation (23%), and productivity time savings (22%). Hard dollar savings ranked fourth at 15%.
• 47% of companies report achieving positive ROI from AI projects, while 33% break even, and 14% see negative ROI.
• Among companies not yet seeing positive ROI, 44% expect to see dollar savings within 1-2 years, and 92% believe they will achieve a positive ROI within 3 years.

Study Methodology

The survey was conducted by Morning Consult from October 30 to November 13, 2024, and included a total sample of 2,413 IT Decision Makers (ITDMs) across 12 countries: the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, India, Singapore, Indonesia, and South Korea. The online interviews were unweighted, and respondents held director-level or higher roles within technology departments at companies with at least 101 employees. All participants had decision-making authority over one or more of the following areas: business consultant/consulting services management, IT product purchasing, or business consulting services purchasing.

About IBM

IBM is a global leader in hybrid cloud, AI, and consulting services, helping clients in over 175 countries unlock insights from their data, optimise business operations, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge. Over 4,000 organisations in critical industries such as financial services, telecommunications, and healthcare depend on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to drive their digital transformations swiftly, efficiently, and securely. With innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions, and consulting, IBM offers open and flexible options to meet the diverse needs of its clients. This commitment is underpinned by IBM’s core values of trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service.

Visit www.ibm.com for more information.