AI beneficiaries | Non-tech
2026 Ideas?
A running (non-haustive) tracker of non-tech AI beneficiaries
AI ROI is top of mind, but the search for returns is still overly concentrated on Big Tech. Meanwhile, many traditional, non-tech companies are already reporting clear, quantifiable AI-driven gains. As enterprise adoption scales, productivity benefits are showing up well outside of technology.
Two framing points:
Every 1% reduction in labor costs for the S&P 500 implies ~2% upside to EPS, on average.
Healthcare, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary benefit more than the index, while tech and communication services - despite leading AI development - see below-average EPS leverage from labor savings.
The common thread across the examples below: AI matters most where labor is a large share of total costs.
Transport and logistics - route optimization and automation
C.H. Robinson (CHRW)
Scale: 3M+ shipping tasks automated; >1M AI quotes and 1M AI orders (as of Apr 16, 2025); 75% of LTL orders fully automated (company disclosures)
Speed & productivity: quotes in 32 seconds; 35%+ productivity gain over two years; 5,500 TL orders/day via AI (Investor Day materials)
Labor leverage: ~600 hours/day saved; human touch time cut to <1 min (from 8-15 min) (Investor Day example)
$ impact: opex -12.6% YoY and headcount -10.8% (Q3’25, Reuters); $220M adj. operating income growth target (2026 vs 2024, company targets)
UPS (UPS) - ORION route optimization driving $300M-$400M in annual savings at full deployment (and >$320M saved as of Dec 2015). INFORMS+1
ArcBest (ARCB) - “City Route Optimization” AI routing delivering $13M+ in annual savings (Phase 1). ArcBest+1
Banks & financial institutions - underwriting and operations
Nubank (NU)
AI support assistant resolves 55% of Tier 1 inquiries, handles 2M+ chats/month, and cut response times by 70% OpenAI
ML-based intent prediction (Precog) improved customer intent accuracy by 50%+ Building Nubank
BNY Mellon (BK)
100+ “digital employees” deployed to automate routine tasks BNY
Eliza supports 120+ automated tasks Business Insider
~52,000 employees have access; 50%+ active usage WSJ
117 AI solutions in production as of Q3’25 PYMNTS
Think low-single-digit labor savings translating into mid-single-digit EPS uplift
JPMorgan (JPM)
COiN automates contract review work equivalent to ~360,000 hours/year, completed in seconds Bloomberg+1
JPM spends ~$2B/year on AI and reports nearly offsetting savings, roughly breakeven on direct ROI Reuters+1
Retail and supply chain - workflow management and planning
Walmart (WMT)
AI-driven truck routing and load planning delivered $75M in savings in FY2023 (INFORMS Edelman Award)
Store-level AI tools reduced shift-planning time from ~90 minutes to ~30 minutes (Walmart News)
Insurance & mortgage - underwriting automation and conversion
Aviva (AV.L) - AI-enabled motor claims transformation delivering >£60M in savings (FY2024 analyst presentation, Aviva)
Rocket Companies (RKT)
Underwriting tasks reduced from 4+ hours to <15 minutes (Rocket Companies Q3’25)
Purchase agreement review cut processing time by 80%, saving 150,000+ hours/year (same source)
Production staff now handle 63% more loans vs. ~2 years ago (Seeking Alpha)
AI-driven front-end tools drove +9ppt client follow-ups and double-digit lifts in credit pulls and refi conversions (Rocket Companies)
Mining and utilities - predictive analytics and maintenance
Rio Tinto (RIO / RIO.L) - predictive analytics targeting ~$200M/year in maintenance savings (iTnews)
BHP (BHP / BHP.AX) - data science-driven maintenance targeting $79M in annual savings (iTnews)
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) - AI-driven process improvements avoided a ~$200M capex expansion (capex avoidance, not opex savings, McKinsey)
AES (AES) - predictive maintenance eliminated 3,000 non-essential truck rolls, saving ~$1M annually (H2O.ai)
Healthcare (high level)
Biopharma - drug discovery, development, and manufacturing
Payers - claims processing, prior auth, member navigation, operations
Medtech & imaging - AI-assisted reading, workflow automation, robotics
Diagnostics and labs - test selection, digital pathology, trial optimization