# OpenAI's shocking finding: No link between AI use and revenue As corporate AI adoption grows, no significant increase in revenue per employee observed. - **Source:** [Fortune | FORTUNE](https://brifing.si/source/769282ef-327a-4454-909a-3c7936216004) - **Published:** 2026-08-13 - **Topic:** [Data & AI](https://brifing.si/c/data-ai) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/71a383c9-2d4a-4386-8c2d-954fcc885138 ## AI usage vs revenue correlation OpenAI's latest 69-page report revealed no statistically significant correlation between corporate AI usage and revenue per employee. The study stated, 'Revenue per employee is not meaningfully associated with output tokens per employee or messages per active user when other controls are included.' However, it noted that high-revenue companies tend to adopt AI earlier. This finding challenges the common assumption that increased AI usage directly translates to financial gains. ## Executives are the least active users One striking finding shows senior executives are the group using AI tools the least. A graph on page 29 reveals they send the fewest weekly messages. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar commented on LinkedIn, 'Competitive advantage comes from people closest to the work.' Meanwhile, early-career employees lead in AI adoption. This usage gap suggests potential blind spots in leadership's ability to assess AI's true ROI, as they experience it less directly than frontline staff. ## OpenAI's challenging quarter The report shows OpenAI's enterprise usage flatlined completely between October-December 2025. During this period, rival Anthropic's Claude Code became the preferred platform at many corporations. However, January 2026 saw OpenAI's usage graph spike upward again. The company attributes this growth to both new clients and deeper usage by existing customers, signaling a recovery from Anthropic's competitive pressure. ## New Chief Revenue Officer appointed OpenAI announced Dali Rajic as its new Chief Revenue Officer, replacing Denise Dresser who held the position for less than a year. Rajic will focus on accelerating customer adoption and helping businesses measure impact as OpenAI prepares for its IPO. This leadership change aligns with CEO Sam Altman's strategy to reorganize the company around enterprise sales, including discontinuing 'side quests' like the Sora video app. ## Questions about academic involvement Two of the report's five authors are academics paid by OpenAI. While affiliated with Columbia Business School and Wharton, footnotes specify they 'contributed as paid contractors.' This arrangement raises questions about independence standards typically expected in academic research. The lack of transparency about whether unpublished findings exist further complicates assessment of the report's objectivity. ## AI employees strike it rich OpenAI employees made significant gains through internal stock sales. Bloomberg reported two former employees earned about $10 million in a single day, with $7 billion in total staff transactions. During the same period, Stockholm-based Lovable, just three years old, doubled its valuation to $13.3 billion. These windfalls illustrate the enormous financial flows in the AI sector, even as ROI remains unproven for many corporate adopters. ## Anthropic's record-breaking IPO plans Rival AI company Anthropic reportedly plans a $2 trillion IPO in October, which would be the largest ever. This move highlights the staggering scale of investment flowing into AI. OpenAI's 2026 growth rate has been called 'pretty incredible' by one VC. However, the lack of clear ROI evidence raises concerns about whether this investment boom is sustainable or driven by hype rather than proven business impact. ## The challenge of measuring AI impact OpenAI's report underscores the difficulty companies face in quantifying AI's business impact. Despite highlighting a 'frontier gap' where AI adopters pull ahead, the inability to establish clear financial correlations suggests the need for concrete metrics beyond industry hype. Experts emphasize companies must assess AI's value based on firsthand experience rather than generalized claims, as adoption patterns and results vary significantly across organizations. ## Sources covering this story - https://fortune.com/2026/08/13/buried-in-openais-latest-research-no-correlation-between-ai-use-and-revenue-per-employee/ — --- _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._