Box Inc. (NYSE:BOX) CEO Aaron Levie said artificial intelligence (AI) could become significantly more capable before its economic impact is fully reflected in GDP, as businesses face hurdles in deploying the technology, and its “diffusion” will take time.

AI Adoption Faces Real-World Hurdles

On Wednesday, in a post on X, Box CEO argued that the gap between AI capabilities and economic growth will depend on how quickly AI spreads through businesses and real-world workflows.

"The way to the reconcile capability level of AI vs. GDP impact is that the diffusion of AI will take much longer than people think," Levie said.

He said businesses face practical hurdles, including preparing data, building pipelines, redesigning processes and managing organizational change.

"You could bring the world’s greatest superintelligence to many workflows, and still be bound by the laws of corporate physics," Levie said.

Even after companies overcome those barriers, real-world timelines can limit how quickly AI-driven improvements translate into economic output.

Levie pointed to customer responses, project permits and drug development timelines as examples.

He also noted that "lots of positive daily AI use-cases are entirely net neutral to GDP, at least in the near term."

"AI diffusion is going to be the theme of the next decade," Levie said.

The way to the reconcile capability level of AI vs. GDP impact is that the diffusion of AI will take much longer than people think. And it will also show up in ways that are hard to measure in GDP immediately.

You could bring the world’s greatest superintelligence to many… https://t.co/XafiV3WutZ

— Aaron Levie (@levie) September 9, 2026

AI Economic Impact and Safeguards

In July, Vice President JD Vance warned that AI could drive major economic growth while displacing jobs and potentially widening inequality, but argued that workers needed "some power in this system" to influence how AI-generated wealth was distributed.

In May, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said AI would reshape the economy, national security and daily life, calling for "common-sense guardrails" to protect privacy, security and American workers while supporting innovation.

AI Adoption and Workplace Skills

Last month, Investor Kevin O’Leary said AI gave businesses "leverage" to become "more efficient, more productive, and more profitable."

Earlier this year, Mark Cuban urged workers to challenge AI outputs, identify mistakes and use the technology to strengthen their judgment.

Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) CEO Julie Sweet had said AI proficiency had become a requirement for career advancement.

She said employees had been given three years to adapt to AI tools before proficiency became a promotion requirement.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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