Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, has published a new note arguing that outside the technology sector, artificial intelligence has delivered no financial payoff to corporate America. The note was published on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and TechCrunch reported on its contents on October 25, 2026. Slok's conclusion is short and blunt: despite heavy investment and wide discussion, there is no sign of a financial return from artificial intelligence outside the tech sector.
What Was Found in the S&P 493
Slok's analysis rests on a group he calls the S&P 493. These are the companies that remain when seven large technology companies are removed from the S&P 500 list. The excluded companies are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. Once those seven are removed, 493 companies remain, and it is their performance that Slok examined.
Slok found that among S&P 493 companies, both profit margins and revenue per employee look almost unchanged. In other words, these indicators are flat. At the same time, there is no evidence that artificial intelligence has raised labor productivity. These two observations are the central facts of Slok's note: profit margins have not risen, revenue per employee has not changed materially, and there is no convincing sign of a productivity gain.
This conclusion applies specifically to companies outside the technology sector. The note singles out the seven large technology companies and speaks about the remaining 493. Slok's claim should therefore be read not as a statement about all of corporate America, but as a statement about the part of it beyond the tech giants. This grouping is the note's main method: when the technology companies are stripped out, the overall picture for the remaining companies looks unchanged.
From this angle, Slok's work draws attention to the gap between the broad discussion around artificial intelligence and its financial results. Despite the scale of investment, profit margins and revenue per employee within the S&P 493 remain flat. The note records precisely this flatness and presents it as a sign that artificial intelligence has not yet delivered a financial payoff.
Artificial Intelligence, Judgment, and Cheaper Intelligence
Slok's second main point concerns the role of artificial intelligence in business. In his words, artificial intelligence may be a wonderful calculator, but in business, intelligence is mostly about judgment. This is one of the most quoted passages in the note, because it captures the difference between the technology's computing power and the nature of business decisions.
"Artificial intelligence may be a wonderful calculator, but in business, intelligence is mostly about judgment. Artificial intelligence does not understand accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs, or fairness." — Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, via TechCrunch
The list of concepts Slok names is broad: accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs, and fairness. In his view, artificial intelligence does not understand these concepts. Yet it is precisely these concepts that determine reputational risk in business and, ultimately, revenue growth and profit margins. Computing ability alone, therefore, does not translate directly into business results.
Relatedly, Slok argues that it will be difficult for corporate America to turn increasingly cheap intelligence into high revenue growth and high profit margins. The fact that intelligence is getting cheaper — that is, artificial intelligence tools are becoming ever more affordable and widespread — does not automatically mean revenue and profit growth. Slok's note says this transition will be difficult, and points to judgment, trust, and culture, listed above, as the reason.
Together, these ideas form the note's logic. On one hand, profit margins and revenue per employee at S&P 493 companies are flat. On the other hand, artificial intelligence's computing power does not cover judgment, accountability, and trust, which are decisive in business. Placed side by side, these two observations produce the conclusion that no financial payoff is visible outside the technology sector.
When and Where the Note Was Published
The note, published in Apollo's own Daily Spark column, is titled "No Signs of AI Payoff Outside the Tech Sector." Its text states that, despite heavy investment and wide discussion, artificial intelligence has not brought corporate America outside the technology sector any financial benefit. This sentence expresses the same content as the note's title and confirms the conclusion reported by TechCrunch.
The note is dated Saturday, October 24, 2026. The TechCrunch article was published on October 25, 2026, and set out Slok's note's main conclusions. The sequence of events is thus clear: Apollo published the note first, and TechCrunch then brought its contents to a wider audience. Both sources convey the same conclusion: there is no sign of a financial payoff from artificial intelligence outside the technology sector.
Three core facts make up the note's content. First, profit margins and revenue per employee at S&P 493 companies remain flat, and there is no evidence that artificial intelligence has raised productivity. Second, artificial intelligence may be strong at computation, but judgment, accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs, and fairness are decisive in business. Third, for that reason, turning increasingly cheap intelligence into high revenue growth and high profit margins will be difficult. These three facts constitute the full content of the note.
