The big results do not come right away. But they tend to follow an unexpected result, especially one that involves new or state of the art methods.
Bohr's atom was wrong in every conceivable way and yet it is one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of all tine.
In mathematics, even the slightest advance can be monumental if it involves progress in an area using new techniques.
Optimization is a separate problem which depends on a small improvement to unleash the flood gates of research, investment, and let's face it: greed and ambition.
This may turn out to be no improvement at all: just an indication that with enough power and energy, we get a slight energy payback. Or, this may be a method that can be greatly improved. We'll see.
For me, this is why science, math, and engineering are so exciting!