Don’t make AI your landlord, get ROI
Escape the AI Rent Trap: How to get True GenAI ROI
The promise of Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. Business leaders are no longer asking if they should use AI, but how to scale it for tangible results. Reports from industry leaders like Google Cloud show that early adopters of agentic AI are already seeing a significant return on their investment. You can read the full Google Cloud report here.
Yet, there's a troubling paradox. A recent MIT study, highlighted in a Forbes article available here, reveals a staggering statistic: 95% of Generative AI pilots fail.
Why the disconnect? The problem isn't the technology. It's the model. Too many businesses are being lured into becoming tenants, not owners, of their AI strategy. This is the core of our Manifesto Principle #5:
🚫 Don't make AI your landlord.
The Landlord Problem: Vendor Lock-In and AI "Theater"
When a SaaS vendor slaps a proprietary AI layer onto their platform and charges you more for it, they become your landlord. You're essentially paying extra rent for a "smart" apartment, but you have no say in the wiring, the plumbing, or the tools in the workshop. This approach is fundamentally flawed and goes against the grain of innovation.
This leads to two major problems:
Vendor Lock-In: You're trapped. Your data, your workflows, and your AI capabilities are all beholden to one provider's ecosystem. True intelligence is driven by flexibility, and this model is the exact opposite. It forces you to abandon the freedom to choose the best, most specialized AI models for your specific needs.
AI "Theater": Many of these built-in AI features are what we call "AI theater." They are designed to look impressive but avoid the deep, contextual integration where real value is created. The MIT research confirms this, stating that companies fail when they avoid "friction". True ROI doesn't come from a flashy demo; it comes from well-designed friction within your actual workflows.
As the Forbes article notes from the research, "The future won't belong to those who erase the drag, but to those who design it well". Renting your AI from a SaaS landlord prevents you from designing anything; you simply use what you're given.
The Agentic Revolution is Real—If You Own It
The potential for AI to transform business is not hype. The agentic era, where AI can independently execute tasks under human guidance, is here. According to Google Cloud's 2025 report,
52% of organizations using GenAI have already adopted AI agents into production.
The results speak for themselves:
Rapid ROI: 74% of executives report seeing ROI on at least one GenAI use case. For early adopters of agentic AI, that number jumps to an incredible 88%.
Proven Value: Businesses are seeing the most significant gains in productivity (70% report improvement), customer experience (63% report improvement), and business growth (56% report growth).
This data proves that AI agents are a powerful competitive advantage. The key is that successful companies aren't just using AI; they are deeply integrating it. They are moving from AI that assists to AI that operates. They are the owners, not the renters.
The Stood CRM Way: Open Agentic Optionality
At Stood, we reject the landlord model. We don't build "AI theater" features designed to increase your license fee. Our philosophy is different. We believe in open agentic optionality.
We provide a powerful, stable foundation—your Stood #MCP server—with clean, accessible data. From there, you are free to plug in your very own specialized #Agentic platform. This allows you to pick and mix the best AI models that tap into your shared data and tools, giving you complete control.
Instead of a superficial add-on, imagine a truly integrated workflow:
🤖 "Hey SalesAgent, check all emails received this morning from customers or leads, update Stood CRM with new relevant contacts and check if anything is missing in planned or released activities. If I missed a new opportunity, alert me and update my deal flow."
💁♂️ The result is powerful. Your #GenAI generates real efficiency and tangible ROI, with no extra #SaaS license fee from us. You're harnessing the full power of agentic AI on your own terms.
The path to a 10x return on your AI investment is not through paying more rent to your software landlord. It's by owning your intelligence stack, designing the friction that drives learning, and building a truly symbiotic relationship between your team and your AI.