AI business statistics 2026: adoption, ROI & trends

Worldwide, 88% of organizations surveyed for the Stanford AI Index used AI in 2025, up from 55% in 2023, and 70% use generative AI in at least one business function (Stanford HAI AI Index, 2026). Using AI is not the same as earning from it: BCG's Applied AI Index 2026 finds that almost half of companies now generate value from AI, while in BCG's 2025 research only 5% generated substantial value (BCG Applied AI Index, 2026; BCG, 2025).

Dutch companies that use AI apply it most for marketing or sales (35%), business administration (32%) and R&D or innovation (25%), followed by production or service processes (18%), accounting (17%), ICT security (11%) and logistics (4%). By technology, 22% of businesses with 10+ staff used text mining and 16% natural language generation in 2025. A growing number of businesses are also experimenting with AI agents for more complex, multi-step tasks.

Sources: CBS, 2025, CBS, 2026, Eurostat, 2025

The gap between pilot and production remains the biggest pitfall. Gartner predicts that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027, due to escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls. In BCG's July 2026 survey of 152 CEOs, nearly two-thirds pursue AI pilots, but only 26% have embedded AI in a broader business transformation and only 14% have clearly defined P&L impact for all AI initiatives. BCG's Applied AI Index 2026 classifies 7.5% of companies as "future-built" and a further 41% as actively scaling AI.

The key differentiator? Having a clear business case before writing a single line of code. Organizations that start with a well-defined problem statement and measurable KPIs consistently outperform those chasing technology for its own sake.

Sources: Gartner, 2025, BCG CEO survey, 2026, BCG Applied AI Index, 2026

The knowledge gap dominates: 73% of Dutch companies that considered AI but do not use it cite lack of experience; across the EU, 70.89% of companies in the same situation cite lack of relevant expertise. About three-quarters of Dutch companies do not use AI and have not considered it, and 15% of companies without AI say it is not useful to them. Investing in AI training and upskilling programs can dramatically lower this hurdle.

For larger companies the barriers shift to execution: in BCG's CEO survey, 55% cite redesigning work around AI as a key barrier and more than half cite linking AI initiatives to the P&L.

The EU AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024. Prohibitions applied from 2 February 2025, obligations for general-purpose AI from 2 August 2025, and the Act became generally applicable on 2 August 2026. After the AI Omnibus, high-risk rules follow on 2 December 2027 (Annex III) and 2 August 2028 (Annex I).

Sources: CBS, 2025, Eurostat, 2025, BCG CEO survey, 2026, European Commission, 2026. NL bars: share of Dutch companies (2+ staff) that considered AI but do not use it; EU bars: share of EU companies (10+ staff) in the same situation.

Why ICT vacancies are hard to fill (2024, % of companies that recruited or tried to recruit ICT specialists, 10+ staff)

AI is also reshaping the jobs themselves. BCG expects dedicated AI roles to grow from 7% of the workforce in 2026 to 22% by 2030, and companies expect a workforce reduction of roughly 10% to 15% by 2030; seven in ten future-built and scaling companies are already retraining staff. Tools like Claude Code are changing software development: employment for software developers aged 22 to 25 has fallen nearly 20% from 2024, according to the Stanford AI Index.

With qualified people this hard to find, many companies turn to AI-as-a-Service models, outsourcing implementation to specialized partners rather than building in-house teams from scratch.

Sources: Techleap, 2026, Eurostat, 2024, BCG Applied AI Index, 2026, Stanford HAI AI Index, 2026