Artificial intelligence may be transforming technology companies, but its financial benefits remain largely invisible across the wider American corporate sector, according to Apollo Global Management's chief economist, Torsten Slok.
In an October 24 analysis attracting attention on October 25, Slok compared the Magnificent Seven technology companies with the other 493 businesses in the S&P 500.
Revenue per employee and profit margins have improved among the technology giants but remained broadly flat across the other companies. Slok also found no clear acceleration in economy-wide productivity attributable to AI.
He argues that many businesses increasingly regard spending on AI tokens as an operating expense rather than a dependable source of growth.
The findings challenge expectations surrounding the growing deployment of AI agents in corporate workplaces, where promised productivity gains do not always translate into measurable financial returns.
The evidence does not establish that AI creates no value. It suggests that, outside major technology companies, the expected benefits have yet to become visible in aggregate financial performance.