Apollo economist finds no AI profit lift outside big tech

Key points

Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok says large U.S. companies outside the biggest tech names show flat profit margins and flat revenue per worker.
His group excludes seven firms: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, leaving roughly 493 companies in the index.
Slok sees no sign AI is lifting productivity and doubts firms can convert cheap machine intelligence into faster revenue growth or higher margins.
TechCrunch notes other recent studies have also failed to find significant AI productivity gains so far.

Why it matters for marketers: Marketing leaders asking for AI budgets should expect harder questions about measurable returns, so tie pilots to revenue or margin outcomes rather than activity or output volume.

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, published a note arguing that AI has not improved the financial results of large corporations beyond the tech sector, TechCrunch reports. He looked at the S&P 500 after removing seven giants: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla.

In that remaining group, Slok found profit margins and revenue per employee look flat, and he saw no evidence of a productivity boost from AI. He said the technology has delivered "zero financial payoff" to corporate America outside of tech, despite heavy spending and hype.

Slok was skeptical that this is just a matter of slower adopters catching up. He questioned whether companies can turn increasingly cheap intelligence into stronger revenue growth and margins. His reasoning is that business depends largely on judgment, and AI lacks a grasp of things like responsibility, trust, company culture and fairness, which affect reputation and, in turn, revenue. TechCrunch adds that other recent studies have likewise found no major productivity gains yet.

For marketers and content teams, the practical takeaway is about proof. Faster drafts and more assets do not automatically show up in revenue or margin, and finance leaders may start asking for that link. Teams running AI pilots should define the business metric in advance, track it against a baseline, and be clear about where human judgment still carries the work. It is one economist's note, so watch for further data from other firms and studies.