The AI Catch-22: Why AI Adoption Isn't Paying Off Yet, and What Changes That
AI adoption is widespread. Measurable returns are scarce. A 2026 NBER survey of nearly 6,000 senior executives found that 69% of firms actively use AI, while 89% reported no effect on labor productivity over the prior three years. Underneath that gap is a real catch-22: AI rarely pays off until a company redesigns the work around it, but few leaders will fund a redesign until AI has already proven it pays off. So companies stay in pilot mode, spending on tools that produce activity without financial impact.
Shane Schott, Founder. Chaos Lab Venture Studio and an operator of AI-enabled businesses, will explain why returns lag adoption (as they have for earlier general-purpose technologies such as electrification and computing), why individual productivity gains often fail to become enterprise value, and what it takes to move from isolated tools to redesigned workflows. Using examples from his own businesses, including the pilots that didn’t work, he will give financial leaders a practical framework for selecting, measuring, funding, scaling, and stopping AI initiatives.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After this session, participants will be able to:
Explain why organization-level financial gains lag individual AI adoption, and identify the four failure modes that keep AI activity from reaching the income statement: unconverted time savings, bolt-on adoption, incomplete cost accounting, and undefined success measures.
Classify AI initiatives as individual productivity tools, workflow redesigns, or business-model changes, and select an appropriate measurement period and evidence threshold for each.
Evaluate an AI initiative using financial and operating measures that connect to revenue, expense, cash flow, or productive capacity, and apply decision rules to fund, scale, redesign, or stop it.
SCHEDULE
3:45-4:00 p.m. Gathering & Networking
4:00-4:50 p.m. Program (1 CPE in Information Technology)
4:50-5:00 p.m. Chapter Business
5;00-6:00 p.m. Social Networking
LOCATION
Erie Club
524 Peach Street
Erie, PA 16501
REGISTRATION - Registration deadline | Tuesday, September 15
Open to FEI Chapter members, Sponsors and their guests
(Non-member guests who qualify for FEI membership are complimentary, see instructions below to register a prospective member guest)
FEI Chapter Members and non-member guests only register on this page – $40
*Chapter Sponsors - One Complimentary Sponsor Registration | Additional Sponsors - $40
*Prospective member guests – Please check that you meet FEI membership qualifications before requesting registration. Pre-approval and pre-registration is required.
*Sponsors and non-members: To request registration, contact Nancy Ehlers at fei.ad.nwpa@gmail.com with the following information by the registration deadline.
Name
Company name
Job title
Address, City, State, ZIP
Email
Phone
Mobile phone (if different)
LinkedIn address
CPE CREDIT
This event offers 1.0 CPE credits via FEI’s CPE Center to attendees who complete pre-registration and sign in/out at the meeting.
Financial Executives International is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.
For FEI CPE credits, one credit hour equals 50 minutes according to NASBA guidelines. Some States boards may differ on how many minutes constitute a credit hour. Contact your state board for more information.
Instructional method: Group-Live
Recommended CPE Credits: 1.00 credit
Experience Level: Basic
Prerequisites/advance preparation: None
CONTACT
Nancy Ehlers
Chapter Manager
fei.ad.nwpa@gmail.com
C: 973-903-5068