# The Hidden Cost of AI Investments: Technical Debt Technical debt in AI projects significantly reduces ROI. - **Source:** [Entrepreneur – Latest](https://brifing.si/source/1bee40f8-abda-4cd6-b055-05148ce79f53) - **Published:** 2026-07-14 - **Topic:** [Data & AI](https://brifing.si/c/data-ai) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/0202792d-4fab-4953-a7a0-87c3a5a28199 ## Impact of AI Technical Debt AI technical debt has become a problem affecting not just IT but the entire business. According to IBM's research, ignoring technical debt reduces AI project ROI by 18% to 29%. ## Rapid Accumulation of AI Debt AI debt accumulates faster than traditional technical debt. For example, a prediction model that worked well in January may lose reliability by June due to changing real-world conditions. ## Vendor Problem Gartner predicts that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by 2027 due to escalating costs and unclear business value. ## Four Signs of AI Investment Issues 1. AI tools work in demo but underperform in production. 2. Paying for multiple AI tools with overlapping functions. 3. Data team spends more time cleaning than analyzing. 4. AI ROI cannot be explained to the board. ## Solution Recommendations 1. Audit current infrastructure before making new AI investments. 2. Cut projects that are not delivering value. 3. Modernize infrastructure before layering AI. ## Infrastructure Modernization In Accedia's projects, the common factor for AI delivering on its promises was clients investing time in fixing their infrastructure. This resulted in deployment reaching production 30% faster. ## Conclusion Technical debt in AI investments significantly impacts ROI. Infrastructure modernization and project auditing are key to reducing this debt. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/your-biggest-ai-cost-isnt-the-technology-its-the/503557 — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._