AI’s Time-to-Market Quagmire: Why Enterprises Struggle to Scale AI Innovation​

Abstract

This 2025 benchmark report investigates why enterprise generative AI initiatives in North America frequently experience long lead times and limited productionization despite strong executive enthusiasm and growing budgets. Based on a survey of 100 C‑suite leaders across multiple regulated and unregulated industries, it shows that fragmented intake processes, incomplete governance foundations, limited traceability, and manual documentation practices impede time-to-market and undermine trust. The findings highlight that early, automated AI lifecycle governance, enterprise-level AI assurance, systematic model inventories, and clearly owned leadership roles can shorten deployment cycles and increase the number of AI use cases that organizations can safely operate in parallel. The report concludes that organizations treating governance as an innovation enabler—supported by dedicated budgets, tailored platforms, and external partners—are more likely to achieve rapid, accountable ROI from their AI portfolios.​