AI Costs Climb 36% But ROI Still Unclear, Report Finds

New research by CloudZero reveals how companies are investing in AI, highlighting key trends in budgets, ROI, security, and headcount

BOSTON, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudZero, the globally trusted leader in proactive cloud cost efficiency, today released "The State Of AI Costs," the first comprehensive report on cost efficiency in AI deployments. Based on a survey of over 500 software professionals at the manager level and above, the report shows that AI costs are surging, but only about half (51%) of organizations can confidently evaluate the ROI of those costs. This is due to several factors, including the difficulty of isolating AI's impact from other business investments.

Organizations are investing in AI to make software development more efficient, strengthen cybersecurity and compliance, and drive innovation and competitive advantage. But without effective cost governance, even the most promising AI initiatives can quickly become financially inefficient.

Other key findings from the report include:

• AI spending is accelerating. Average monthly AI budgets are expected to rise 36% in 2025, reflecting a major shift toward larger, more complex initiatives.
• Automation, scalability, and cloud deployment dominate. The most widely used AI tools are built for these purposes — but without effective cost tracking, profitability remains uncertain.
• Hiring remains a major hurdle. High salary expectations, a shortage of qualified candidates, and limited internal expertise are the top challenges. Cloud computing and data engineering are the most in-demand AI skills.
• Visibility drives confidence. Organizations using third-party cost optimization tools report significantly higher confidence in calculating AI ROI.

Read the full report: https://www.cloudzero.com/state-of-ai-costs/

Erik Peterson, founder and CTO of CloudZero, said, "AI spend is going through the same hype cycle we've seen with every transformational tech shift: lots of bets, not a lot of clarity. What's different this time is the scale and speed of that spend. The companies that can tie AI usage to business outcomes aren't the ones flinching. They're doubling down. Like the cloud, AI will become just another part of how every modern business runs. When that happens, it's not going to be the biggest companies that win, it's going to be the ones with the best AI unit economics — the ones that know how to scale profitably."

About CloudZero

CloudZero is the leader in proactive cloud cost efficiency. We enable engineers to build cost-efficient software without slowing down innovation. CloudZero's next-generation cloud cost optimization platform automates the collection, allocation, and analysis of cloud costs to uncover savings opportunities and improve unit economics. We are the only platform that enables companies to understand 100% of their operational cloud spend and take an engineering-led approach to optimizing that spend. CloudZero is used by industry leaders worldwide, such as Coinbase, Klaviyo, Miro, Nubank, and Rapid7. Visit cloudzero.com to get started today.

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SOURCE CloudZero