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Article · AI Strategy & Leadership

Many are using AI — not everyone gets value out of it

78% of companies use AI. Only 26% get value out of it. The question isn't the technology — it's what you do with it.

Henrik Stenmann
04 May 2026
2 min read
Many are using AI — not everyone gets value out of it

78% of companies use AI. Only 26% get value from it

Your industry is investing in AI like never before. The global market is growing faster than the entire economy of many countries. And yet only 26 percent of organisations actively using AI experienced real business value in the past year.

That paradox is worth taking seriously. Because the technology is not the problem. The question is what you do with it.

The difference between 1x and 10x

Research consistently shows the same thing: companies that integrate AI strategically across the business achieve up to 10.3 times higher returns than those using AI in isolation within a single function. This is not a gradual advantage. It is an exponential gap, and it grows every quarter.

What sets the successful ones apart? It is rarely access to technology. It is the ability to move from experiment to execution, and from isolated pilot projects to AI that is embedded in the way you run your business.

61% of organisations never scale beyond the pilot phase

61 percent of all organisations are stuck in what many call the pilot trap: AI initiatives that run but never scale. The next pilot starts before the previous one has been properly evaluated. Return on investment never materialises.

This is not a sign of failure. It is a sign of missing direction

The way out requires three things: a clear definition of what success looks like in business terms, leadership ownership that extends beyond the IT department, and a concrete plan for how what works reaches the entire organisation.

Your next step

Is your organisation moving out of the pilot phase, or starting there again? We help you map what is holding you back and what it takes for AI to start moving your bottom line.

Contact Henrik directly and we will find 30 minutes to look at your situation.

Written by

Henrik Stenmann
CEO
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