The AI Portfolio Dilemma: Why Most Companies Can't Account for What They're Spending | CDO Matters Ep 104

Most organizations are committing serious capital to AI and can't answer a basic question: how much are we actually spending, and on what? That accountability gap is about to close, whether data leaders are ready or not.📌 In this episode:Why fewer than 5% of large companies can accurately track AI spend as a distinct category — and what happens when the CFO gets involvedThe Vane Loop framework: a quadrant-based approach to scoring data and AI investments on feasibility and impact across 70+ factorsWhy AI architecture decisions are now financial variables — and why most product managers aren't equipped to make themThe strategic case for decommissioning: why building a library of reusable skills beats running 200 half-finished use cases💬 The takeaway: "If you don't manage your costs, your costs will be managed for you." — Malcolm Hawker, Episode 104About the host + guest: Malcolm Hawker is a former Gartner analyst, Chief Data Officer at Profisee, Editor-in-Chief of CDO Matters on Substack, and host of the CDO Matters Podcast.Karl Ivo Sokolov is Managing Director at Specific Group Austria and co-author of Finance, Grade Data and AI Products. He sits on the US Institute of Management Accountants board and is the creator of the Vane Loop framework for AI portfolio steering.