• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 2, 2026

Artificial intelligence is being used for everything from research to email copywriting. But one of the most important applications for AI is product development. 

And not every brand is deploying it effectively, judging by "AI in Product Development: A Reality Check," a study from Modus Create and Ascend2.

“Some product executives are approaching AI with clarity and seeing unprecedented gains,” the study says.  “Others are letting hype dictate their decisions, conflating chaos with progress.”

The key factor is ROI. Of the executives polled, 40% describe ROI pressure as significant, versus 19% of managers.

But budgets have risen, with 35% of product development decision-makers reporting significant jumps, versus 30% in 2023.  

Volume has also jumped, with 33% of brands delivering more than five new products or major feature releases in the last 12 months. Still,  there are many challenges, among them:

• Ensuring compliance with data-privacy regulations—48%
• Lack of internal skills—38%
• Inadequate data quality or availability—35% 
• Limited budget—34%
• Legacy architecture constraints—32% 
• Resistance to new tools or processes—31% 
• Legal reviews—30%
• Low-quality output—25% 
• Other—2%

At the same time, the study notes that short-term ROI isn’t a strategy by itself.  The metrics now being used to measure success include the following (respondents may select more than one):

• ROI/Revenue impact—58% 
• Cost savings—52% 
• Customer experience score—48%
• Model accuracy—46%
• User adoption—40%

So where are brands investing in modernization? 

• Enabling AI/analytics—43% 
• Reducing operational costs—41%
• Enhancing security/compliance—39% 
• Launching initiatives—36% 
• Improving the employee experience—36%
• Improving time-to-market—35% 
• Supporting new product or feature launch—34%
• Other—1%

Modus Create and Ascend2 surveyed 550 senior product development professionals.