Nearly three-quarters (74%) of the economic value generated by artificial intelligence (AI) is obtained by only one-fifth (20%) of organizations, while the rest are still experimenting, testing, and launching pilot projects that largely remain at the testing stage, according to the global PwC AI Performance report.
According to the report's conclusions, what top companies do differently is that they don't simply accumulate more AI tools, but rather treat artificial intelligence as an engine for business reinvention – they look for new revenue streams, explore new territories arising from industry convergence, and at the same time, invest in data quality, governance, and trust.
„The report's conclusion is clear: the companies that gain the most from using artificial intelligence are those focused on growth, not just cost reduction. The greatest benefits are reported by organizations that use AI to reinvent their business model and expand into related areas, not those that simply implement AI tools to do the same things faster or cheaper. Artificial intelligence is an accessible technology that levels the playing field, and I believe that in the coming years, we will witness changes in hierarchies and the emergence of new players in many fields,” says Gabriel Voicilă, Technology Partner at PwC Romania.
Companies with the best AI results are not just using it to do things faster or cheaper, but to do new things, the report reveals. Specifically, they report that AI improves their ability to reinvent their business model 2.6 times more than other companies and use AI to identify growth opportunities generated by industry convergence – for example, through partnerships with players outside their traditional sector – 2-3 times more often.
Otherwise, capitalizing on growth opportunities arising from industry convergence has proven to be the strongest individual factor influencing AI-based financial performance – stronger than efficiency gains taken separately.
Beyond strategy, the study also highlights major differences in the concrete ways top companies implement AI in their operations. They use artificial intelligence in much more advanced ways than the rest of the market. Thus: they run AI for simultaneous execution of multiple tasks within predefined limits (guardrails) 1.8 times more often; they operate autonomous AI systems capable of self-optimization 1.9 times more often; they increase the number of AI-driven decisions without human intervention almost 3 times faster (2.8x) than other companies.
The accelerated pace of automation in these companies is also accompanied by the building of „trust at scale.” Leaders are not only automating more but also ensuring they do so responsibly: they have a responsible AI framework (a set of principles and processes that ensure ethical, equitable, and transparent use of technology) 1.7 times more often; they have established a cross-functional AI governance committee (a body that brings together representatives from different departments – legal, IT, operations, ethics – to oversee the use of AI) 1.5 times more often. The result is that employees in leading companies trust AI-generated outputs twice as much as employees in other organizations.
„Perhaps the most worrying conclusion of the study concerns the future: without a fundamental change in approach, the gap between leaders and the rest of the market will not only persist but widen. Top companies learn faster, scale up solutions that have proven to work, and safely automate decisions – accumulating an advantage that becomes increasingly difficult to recover,” the report states.
The PwC Global AI Performance Report is based on interviews with 1,217 directors and executives from large companies, predominantly publicly listed, operating in 25 sectors across multiple regions of the world. The questions focused on the concrete gains – revenue and efficiency – they are realizing today thanks to AI, as well as how they are actually putting the technology to work.
PwC researchers analyzed the impact of 60 AI management and investment practices, grouped into two main categories – AI use and AI foundations – that together make up the PwC AI fitness index, a tool that measures how well a company is equipped to harness artificial intelligence.