A research report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services and Appian, released on July 1, 2026, finds that while 59 per cent of organizations have successfully integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into production, most efforts remain focused on incremental productivity rather than achieving significant business growth. The survey, which includes responses from 385 AI decision-makers, reveals that 64 per cent of organizations report productivity improvements and 58 per cent note gains in operational efficiency. Conversely, only 30 per cent of respondents have seen improvements in revenue streams, and 35 per cent reported increased return on investment (ROI).

The study emphasizes a critical gap in maturity regarding how AI is applied to organizational workflows. Currently, only 18 per cent of respondents have primarily integrated AI within their workflows, while 34 per cent continue to treat AI as a standalone tool. Fragmentation remains a major hurdle, with 34 per cent of respondents citing siloed or low-quality data and 31 per cent pointing to a lack of system integration as primary barriers to progress. According to the report, organizations that prioritize modernizing legacy infrastructure see a 76 per cent success rate in AI initiatives, yet only 45 per cent of organizations have currently undertaken such modernization efforts. Nearly seven in 10 respondents agree that outdated legacy systems are actively limiting their ability to scale AI capabilities.

Adoption of AI agents is also uneven across various functions. While organizations are actively deploying these agents in software development (35 per cent), IT operations (31 per cent), and marketing and sales (26 per cent), adoption remains lower in core operational areas such as procurement (nine per cent), manufacturing (10 per cent), and supply chain (11 per cent). Governance is identified as a vital component for future scaling; 92 per cent of participants agree that AI agents require rules-based guardrails to function safely. However, fewer than half (48 per cent) of the surveyed organizations have actually defined such rules, despite 25 per cent already using agentic AI (systems that perform tasks autonomously) and 62 per cent currently considering its implementation.

A research report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services and Appian, released on July 1, 2026, finds that while 59 per cent of organizations have successfully integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into production, most efforts remain focused on incremental productivity rather than achieving significant business growth. The survey, which includes responses from 385 AI decision-makers, reveals that 64 per cent of organizations report productivity improvements and 58 per cent note gains in operational efficiency. Conversely, only 30 per cent of respondents have seen improvements in revenue streams, and 35 per cent reported increased return on investment (ROI).

The study emphasizes a critical gap in maturity regarding how AI is applied to organizational workflows. Currently, only 18 per cent of respondents have primarily integrated AI within their workflows, while 34 per cent continue to treat AI as a standalone tool. Fragmentation remains a major hurdle, with 34 per cent of respondents citing siloed or low-quality data and 31 per cent pointing to a lack of system integration as primary barriers to progress. According to the report, organizations that prioritize modernizing legacy infrastructure see a 76 per cent success rate in AI initiatives, yet only 45 per cent of organizations have currently undertaken such modernization efforts. Nearly seven in 10 respondents agree that outdated legacy systems are actively limiting their ability to scale AI capabilities.

Adoption of AI agents is also uneven across various functions. While organizations are actively deploying these agents in software development (35 per cent), IT operations (31 per cent), and marketing and sales (26 per cent), adoption remains lower in core operational areas such as procurement (nine per cent), manufacturing (10 per cent), and supply chain (11 per cent). Governance is identified as a vital component for future scaling; 92 per cent of participants agree that AI agents require rules-based guardrails to function safely. However, fewer than half (48 per cent) of the surveyed organizations have actually defined such rules, despite 25 per cent already using agentic AI (systems that perform tasks autonomously) and 62 per cent currently considering its implementation.