> new light fixtures and appliances had to be purchased and installed

Exactly.

> There's nothing holding back anybody.

The same thing is holding back AI. Most businesses don't have AI powered appliances. Yet.

The industries that used appliances that can be AI powered, the AI took over in months.

Every computer and cellphone in the office is an "AI powered appliance". Every application can be an AI powered one. LLMs have been shoehorned into damn near every app they use already. There's no magic appliance or software that will make productivity and profits suddenly happen for businesses that they couldn't already be doing right now, and I say that fully realizing that there are people here who desperately want to sell businesses something (possibly vibecoded) that they'll claim is a magic AI appliance/software that will make productivity and profits suddenly happen.