Two Numbers That Should Convince Everyone To Accelerate Their AI Adoption

There are two types of organizations right now: those aggressively adopting AI, and those about to wonder what happened. The gap between them is widening daily, and it will soon become unbridgeable. In today's short read, we show you two numbers that bring the divide into focus.

AI Spending Dwarfs The Moonshot

When America decided to beat Russia to the moon, we put the full weight of the country's balance sheet behind the Space Race. In inflation-adjusted terms, the Apollo program cost $300 billion over a decade, a remarkable sum of money by almost any historic measure . . . except compared to current AI spending.

In 2026 alone, the five largest hyper-scalers are projected to spend $695 billion on AI infrastructure—the equivalent of a new Apollo program every five months.

How does all that spending impact the overall economy? According to the Federal Reserve, AI spending drove 40% of all GDP growth last year. Let that sink in: a technology that barely existed in commercial form five years ago is now driving nearly half of America's economic expansion.

What It Means For Public Affairs

Numbers can be boring. These two numbers are absolutely bonkers. Think about what they mean for a minute. Consider briefly the impacts from the Apollo Program—how it transformed our understanding of the universe; how it defined the Cold War era politically. Now imagine multiplying those events every five months. It's history on the Autobahn.

Next consider for a moment what 40% of the economy's growth looks like. That's more than all healthcare spending, auto manufacturing, and residential construction growth combined. 

So here's the punchline for public affairs practitioners. If you think you can ease into the AI Age; if you think you can wait to see how this plays out; if you're encountering resistance from internal stakeholders or clients to adopting AI—keep these two numbers at hand. Because the economy, your field, and your competitors are not waiting for you. While you're scheduling another exploratory meeting, your competition is lapping the moon. 

Two Ways To Operationalize This Email

 🔱 Run Your Own Apollo Math: Take your annual budget—whether it's $500K or $50M—and calculate what 40% of it represents. That's roughly how much of your competitive environment is being reshaped by AI right now. Then ask: what percentage of your current operations actively use AI? If there's a gap, that's your vulnerability.

🔱 Use These Numbers With Stakeholders: The next time you encounter internal resistance to AI adoption, try this: "AI drove 40% of economic growth last year. Is this something you're comfortable ignoring?"