Enterprises are hemorrhaging millions of dollars on underutilized tech, and the problem is only growing, according to a report from WalkMe.
The survey revealed companies wasted an estimated $104 million in 2024 due to digital inefficiencies, with 75% of workers struggling to harness AI’s promised efficiencies.
The results indicated that despite the surge in digital transformation initiatives, many businesses fail to achieve a return on their IT investments, often due to bloated tech stacks, poor integration and inadequate user adoption strategies.
Uzi Dvir, CIO at WalkMe, explained enterprises are failing to realize ROI on IT investments due to underutilized tech, lack of employee training, and poor digital adoption strategies.
“While digital transformation investments are accelerating, many enterprises rarely produce their desired results,” he said. “They now face a choice: Continue accumulating transformation debt or embrace digital adoption as the bridge to transformational success.”
One of the biggest culprits of wasteful IT spending is tech stack sprawl. As businesses race to adopt new digital solutions, many fail to assess whether these tools provide real value.
WalkMe’s report also found IT leaders underestimate their application footprint by 1,600%, leading to overlapping software, security risks and operational inefficiencies.
Derek Ashmore, application transformation principal at Asperitas, pointed out that enterprises struggle with IT ROI due to poor business alignment, overestimated benefits and implementation challenges.
“Many IT investments are driven by trends rather than clear business objectives, leading to unclear value,” he said.
Additionally, businesses frequently overspend on cloud resources, underutilize SaaS subscriptions and create data silos by failing to integrate new applications with existing workflows.
The promise of AI in the workplace is to enhance productivity, automate processes and provide data-driven insights, but the reality is more complicated.
Lack of Confidence in AI Tools
WalkMe’s report found that while 79% of executives believe they are meeting their AI transformation goals, only 28% of employees feel confident using AI tools in their daily work.
This gap between executive optimism and workforce adoption is a direct cause of wasted IT spending.
Businesses pour money into AI-driven solutions without ensuring employees know how to use them effectively. Without proper adoption, AI remains an untapped asset, failing to deliver on its full potential.
“To drive engagement, organizations must embed training and guidance into the flow of work,” Dvir said.
Ashmore echoed these concerns, emphasizing that poor training and cultural resistance hinder expected returns.
“Enterprises must align IT investments with business goals, prioritizing revenue growth, cost reduction, and efficiency,” he said. “Effective change management, user feedback integration and automated testing enhance adaptability and minimize disruptions.”
To combat digital inefficiencies, IT leaders must shift from technology accumulation to technology optimization.
This means conducting rigorous IT audits to identify underused or redundant software and eliminating tools that don’t deliver measurable value.
Data Driven IT Spending Strategies
Ashmore recommended a data-driven approach to IT spending.
“Robust KPIs, ROI metrics, and continuous business-IT alignment meetings help reassess priorities as market conditions evolve,” he explained.
He said some of the most effective strategies for reducing waste include eliminating redundant tools by consolidating overlapping applications to streamline workflows, optimizing cloud and SaaS spending through right-sizing resources, decommissioning unused services, and applying FinOps best practices.
Meanwhile, fostering user adoption by investing in digital adoption platforms, providing real-time guidance and embedding AI-powered automation into workflows ensures that IT investments translate into actual business value.
Looking ahead, IT leaders must redefine their success metrics. Instead of measuring success by the number of tools deployed, organizations must focus on how well those tools enhance productivity, employee performance and customer experience.
“IT investment and digital transformation should not be about adding more tools—it’s about ensuring the right tools are used the right way,” Dvir said. “Enterprises that make digital adoption a core pillar of their transformation strategy—focusing on enablement, visibility and streamlined workflows—will be the ones that extract the most value from their IT investments.”
Ashmore emphasized the importance of cross-functional governance, ensuring that tech priorities align with real business needs.
“Establishing an IT-business steering committee ensures tech decisions receive executive sponsorship and align with revenue growth, cost reduction, and customer experience goals,” he said.
