AI is everywhere right now. Boards are asking about it. Vendors are selling it. Teams are experimenting with it. Yet a lot of businesses still feel the same thing day-to-day: the work is still heavy, follow-ups still slip, and the data still isn’t clean enough to move fast.
That gap—big AI spend, small operational impact—is why AI adoption is stalling. Not because the tech is fake. Because most organizations try to bolt AI onto workflows that are already messy.
What “AI adoption is stalling” actually means
Most businesses aren’t rejecting AI. They’re stuck in a pilot loop. They have pockets of usage, a few experiments, and a couple of “cool demos.” But when it’s time to scale, the same problems show up:
- Unclear ROI: leaders can’t connect AI outputs to measurable outcomes.
- Workflow friction: teams don’t know where AI fits into real work.
- Tool sprawl: AI becomes “one more system” to manage.
- Trust issues: nobody wants to rely on AI when the underlying data is messy.
You can see this theme in how AI is discussed publicly: spending is high, but converting that investment into reliable day-to-day value is still hard. (source)
The three reasons AI doesn’t translate into productivity
1) AI gets treated like a feature instead of a system
A lot of AI rollouts stop at a feature: a chatbot, a summarizer, a search box, or a plugin. Those can help, but they don’t fix the real productivity drain. They don’t repair the inputs. They don’t connect the work. They don’t protect follow-ups.
If the system is broken, AI becomes a nicer interface on top of the same chaos.
2) People friction is real
Adoption stalls when teams don’t trust the outcome or don’t feel safe using the tool in real workflows. Many organizations see tension between leadership excitement and employee reality. That isn’t a character flaw. It’s a design problem. (source)
The fix is not “tell people to use AI.” The fix is to make AI outputs practical, predictable, and tied to the next step.
3) Bad data makes AI look worse than it is
AI depends on inputs. If your contact list has duplicates, inconsistent categories, and missing fields, your AI experience will feel random. If documents aren’t organized, summaries don’t land. If survey responses aren’t mapped cleanly, insights don’t turn into action.
This is the same operational pain point businesses have had for years: scattered information creates extra steps, weak visibility, and rework. (source)
What actually works: AI that produces next actions
AI creates value when it changes what happens next. Not when it produces more text, more dashboards, or more “insights” that a human still has to translate into work.
That’s the design principle behind TODD. We built TODD as a Business Momentum System (BMS)—a system that uses AI to improve your data and produce next actions that move relationships and projects forward.
If you want the foundation, start here: Business Momentum System (Not a CRM).
How TODD turns AI into momentum
A) TODD fixes the inputs first
AI feels smart when the inputs are clean. It feels unreliable when the inputs are messy. TODD starts with the foundation: contact fields, categories, missing data, and consistency. When the list is trustworthy, the next action becomes obvious.
For the data angle, read: The Hidden Cost of Disconnected Data (and How TODD Fixes It).
B) TODD connects context across four core business objects
AI doesn’t help if it only sees one slice of your world. TODD keeps the work connected across:
- Contacts (people and organizations you need to engage)
- Tasks (moves and follow-ups that create progress)
- Documents (notes, proposals, policies, history)
- Surveys (intake and feedback that adds signal)
When those objects are connected, AI can do something useful: generate the next step with the right context attached.
C) TODD outputs actions, not “insights”
TODD is built to produce work you can execute immediately:
- Suggested follow-ups and outreach drafts
- Tasks created from notes and activity
- Contact segments you can act on (not just view)
- Data cleanup recommendations that improve downstream results
This is the difference between a tool that helps you manage and a system that helps you move.
D) TODD reduces the “AI anxiety” loop
When AI is framed as a replacement, people resist. When it’s framed as a practical assistant that handles repetitive steps, adoption becomes easier. TODD is built to take the busywork off the table—so humans stay on judgment, relationships, and decisions.
If you’re still thinking “we should just buy another tool,” read this first: Why Most Business Tools Fail to Improve Productivity (and What Actually Works).
A practical checklist for deciding where AI belongs
- Start with repeatable work: follow-ups, categorization, drafting, cleanup.
- Fix the inputs: messy data will make AI feel unreliable.
- Demand next actions: if the output doesn’t change what happens next, it’s not helping.
- Keep context attached: AI needs the right history to be useful.
AI adoption doesn’t stall because people are lazy. It stalls because the system isn’t built to convert AI output into forward motion.
Closing thought
The organizations that win with AI won’t be the ones with the most AI features. They’ll be the ones who use AI to improve data, reduce manual coordination, and keep momentum moving every day. That’s what a Business Momentum System is designed to do.
FAQ
Why is AI adoption stalling in many companies?
Because AI is often bolted onto messy workflows. Unclear ROI, people friction, and bad data make it hard to scale beyond pilots.
How do you get real ROI from AI?
Use AI where it produces next actions: clean data, generate follow-ups, create tasks, and reduce repetitive coordination.
Tyrone Showers