Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson told CNBC AI has not yet meaningfully boosted productivity, crediting recent gains to earlier digital technologies such as cloud computing. She said the payoff from AI adoption may take longer than markets expect.
Johnson framed her point as a timing concern, not a rejection of AI's potential: companies first use new technology to improve existing processes, she said, before larger applications emerge. She compared the lag to the iPhone's app ecosystem and said electricity took 30 years to penetrate manufacturing. Reuters reported Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta were expected to spend roughly $630 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Johnson worries that not all the industry's spending has reached companies' bottom lines.
BLS data showed nonfarm-business productivity rose 2.2% year over year in Q2, down from 2.9% in Q1; annualized quarterly growth in Q2 was 1.4%. A Federal Reserve review said 18% of U.S. businesses had adopted AI by the end of 2025. In PwC's 2026 CEO survey, 56% reported no significant financial benefit from AI, while 12% reported gains in both revenue and costs. Johnson nevertheless said strong consumer spending and corporate earnings leave her broadly constructive.
