81 AI statistics to boost your growth in 2026

Imagine your workplace without AI. It's dreary; it's devoid of happiness. Your staff is overwhelmed with work, crucial tasks fall through the cracks, and getting information from other departments feels like negotiating with packs of wild hyenas.

Now, imagine your workplace with AI. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. Everyone gets their tasks done on time, productivity is sky high, and your customers have never been happier. You tell a joke in the break room; everyone laughs. 

That's the corporate fantasy, but what's the reality? I've compiled a list of 81 artificial intelligence statistics to highlight just how big a difference AI adoption can actually make for your business, and give you an idea of where the technology and marketplace are headed. I can't promise it will make you funnier, though.

Table of contents:

• AI growth statistics

• AI challenges

• AI public perception and concerns

• Marketing AI adoption statistics

• HR AI adoption statistics

• IT AI usage statistics

• The future of AI

• Build better AI automations with Zapier

AI growth statistics

Early artificial intelligence had its fair share of groans—it was more "please just stop breaking spreadsheets" or "no, that's not the right recipe" than something you could take advice from. Now, it's skyrocketed in possibilities and investment, leading businesses (and individuals) to feverishly embrace the technology everywhere they can.

1. 88% of companies report AI use in at least one business function, compared to 78% last year. (McKinsey & Company)

2. 64% of businesses say that AI is aiding in innovation. (McKinsey & Company)

3. 3 in 4 global employees are now using generative AI at work. (Microsoft)

4. 81% of business leaders say AI agents will be integrated into their strategy within 12-18 months. (Microsoft)

5. 1 in 4 businesses say they have already deployed AI across their organization. (Microsoft)

6. 50% of business leaders say AI strategy is now owned by an AI innovation team. (Zapier)

7. 38% of business leaders say AI strategy sits directly with the CEO or executive team. (Zapier)

8. 92% of large businesses are treating AI as a priority. (Zapier)

9. 92% of workers say AI boosts their productivity. (Zapier)

10. 65% of senior executives say leveraging AI and predictive analysis are primary contributors to growth. (Adobe)

11. As of July 2025, 10% of the global adult population uses ChatGPT weekly. (OpenAI)

12. ChatGPT mobile app revenue increased from $174 million in 2024 to $1.35 billion in 2025. (TechCrunch)

13. ChatGPT is the most commonly used AI app in the workplace and is more than twice as popular as Google's AI search or Gemini (71% compared to 32% and 31%, respectively). (Exploding Topics)

14. By 2028, roughly 15% of day-to-day business decisions could be made by agentic AI. (Reuters)

15. Total worldwide AI spending is expected to surpass $2.02 trillion in 2026. (Gartner)

AI challenges

One doesn't sit down at their desk Monday morning and declare themselves an AI expert. There's a learning curve to fully automating systems across departments and achieving perfect AI integration (who would have thought?). Once you get your "aha" moment, it's smooth sailing, but businesses could face challenges when first starting.

1. Two-thirds of businesses have not yet begun scaling AI across their operations. (McKinsey & Company)

2. Only 39% of businesses have seen an EBIT impact from AI. (McKinsey & Company)

3. 73% of enterprise leaders feel frequent or constant pressure from senior leadership to show AI ROI that doesn't yet exist. (Zapier)

4. 92% of enterprise leaders say it's either difficult or only partially manageable to prove AI ROI at scale. (Zapier)

5. 74% of enterprise leaders say AI adoption tracking is inconsistent across teams. (Zapier)

6. 67% of AI practitioners say their teams are only "somewhat equipped" with the tools to report AI progress accurately. (Zapier)

7. 83% of business leaders say the biggest AI threats come from compliance failures or uncontrolled usage. (Zapier)

8. 63% of AI practitioners admit they use AI tools without formal approval. (Zapier)

9. 44% of AI practitioners identify integration challenges as the top obstacle to scaling AI. (Zapier)

10. 78% of enterprises are struggling to integrate AI with their current tech stacks. (Zapier)

11. Nearly 3 in 10 enterprise leaders think that integrating AI with existing systems is a top barrier to AI adoption. (Zapier) 

12. Half of all employees want more AI training. (Zapier)

13. Only 1% of businesses believe they've reached AI maturity. (Zapier)

14. Only 1 in 10 businesses have yet to secure leadership buy-in on AI. (Zapier)

15. 81% of business leaders say data silos hinder their AI transformation efforts. (Zapier)

16. 35% of business leaders say AI skill gaps in their team are a barrier to widespread AI adoption. (Zapier)

17. 29% of business leaders say data quality issues are a barrier to widespread AI adoption. (Zapier)

18. 58% of workers spend three or more hours per week revising or completely redoing AI outputs. (Zapier)

19. 74% of workers have experienced at least one negative consequence from low-quality AI outputs. (Zapier)

AI public perception and concerns

People have mixed opinions about artificial intelligence. Some see the technology as the future of humankind; others deem it an anxiety-inducing nuisance that's in the middle of an economic bubble just waiting to pop. 

1. 34% of adults worldwide say they are more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life. (Pew Research)

2. 47% of American adults don't trust the U.S. government to regulate the use of AI effectively. (Pew Research)

3. 8 in 10 American adults think the U.S. government should prioritize maintaining rules for AI safety and data security—even if that means slowing progress. (Gallup)

4. Only 1 in 10 American adults think the U.S. government should help develop AI as quickly as possible. (Gallup)

5. 54% of American adults think the U.S. government should be responsible for creating rules and regulations regarding AI. (Gallup)

6. 7 in 10 American adults think independent experts should conduct tests and evaluations regarding AI safety. (Gallup)

7. 71% of Americans fear that AI will cause permanent job loss. (Reuters)

8. Nearly 8 in 10 Americans think that AI could be used to spark political chaos. (Reuters)

Marketing AI adoption statistics

Some marketers are using AI to create poorly designed product photos and soulless advertisements. The smart marketers use AI to boost customer retention, improve lead scoring, and deliver customer experiences that don't feel like they were generated in a panic at 4 p.m.  

1. 3 in 4 marketers are experimenting with or fully implementing AI. (Salesforce)

2. High-performing marketers are nearly 3 times as likely to have fully implemented AI in their operations as low-performers. (Salesforce)

3. 98% of marketers currently use generative AI or plan to use it within the next 18 months. (Salesforce)

4. 96% of marketers currently use predictive AI or plan to use it within the next 18 months. (Salesforce)

5. 8 in 10 marketers worry about missing out on the benefits of AI. (Salesforce)

6. 65% of senior executives plan to use AI and predictive analytics to increase customer retention and loyalty. (Adobe)

7. 61% of senior executives plan to use AI and predictive analytics to boost customer engagement through more personalized experiences. (Adobe)

8. Nearly 6 in 10 senior executives plan to use AI and predictive analytics to automate the customer journey. (Adobe)

9. Nearly 80% of senior marketing executives say they are expected to deliver growth using data and AI. (Adobe)

10. Nearly 8 in 10 marketers are using large language models. (SAS)

11. Over 80% of marketing teams see ROI from GenAI tools. (SAS)

HR AI adoption statistics

Human resources does much more than hiring and firing. They're the smart, talented, perfect workers who do absolutely everything right, and AI helps them achieve perfection. (And if my HR rep is reading, I'm definitely not trying to butter you up so you approve all of my requests).

1. Over 60% of recruiting professionals are optimistic about AI-aided recruitment. (LinkedIn)

2. 57% of recruiters use Gen AI to write job descriptions faster. (LinkedIn)

3. Nearly half of recruiters use AI to automate tasks and spend more time on important work. (LinkedIn)

4. 4 in 10 HR leaders plan to implement, or have already implemented, generative AI in their workday. (Gartner)

5. Over half of businesses are using AI to aid recruiting efforts. (SHRM)

6. 4 in 10 businesses now use AI for HR tasks. (SHRM)

7. Nearly 60% of publicly-traded firms use AI for HR tasks, compared to 45% private firms, and 38% nonprofit organizations. (SHRM)

8. Almost 70% of businesses use AI for writing job descriptions. (SHRM)

9. Roughly 9 in 10 HR professionals say AI saves time in recruiting. (SHRM)

10. Only 5% of enterprise leaders say HR teams are accelerating AI adoption the most at their companies. (Zapier)

IT AI usage statistics

I commend the IT teams of the world. They're the silent heroes of every business, ensuring that every piece of technology works as intended, safeguarding business data from breaches and cybercriminals, and answering Beth's third identical IT question this month. Despite all this responsibility, they're also the teams standing highest on the soapbox campaigning for AI adoption—and with good reason.

1. IT teams that use AI and automation cut out upwards of 30 minutes per support ticket. (Zapier)

2. IT is over 10x more likely to lead AI acceleration than sales, marketing, HR, and customer service teams. (Zapier)

3. 94% of IT leaders think that AI, IoT, and cloud computing will have the greatest influence on their operations over the next 2 years. (Cisco)

4. Over 6 in 10 IT leaders think AI will have the biggest impact on their operations. (Cisco)

5. Over half of IT leaders say developing AI tools to automate and tailor customer journeys will cause the biggest revenue impact for their organizations. (Cisco)

6. Nearly 9 in 10 IT leaders plan to support AI workloads. (Cisco)

7. 27% of business leaders say IT infrastructure bottlenecks are a barrier to widespread AI adoption. (Zapier)

8. Over 50% of enterprise leaders say IT teams are accelerating AI adoption the most at their companies. (Zapier)

The future of AI

Organizations are waking up to just how valuable artificial intelligence is, and if you're slow to adopt it, you'll quickly lose ground to your competition. 

1. 9 in 10 small businesses are considering AI and automation services to improve their competitive position. (Visa)

2. 23% of businesses are actively scaling an agentic AI system. (McKinsey & Company)

3. 62% of businesses are at least experimenting with AI agents. (McKinsey & Company)

4. 44% of business leaders say observability and monitoring will be the most critical capability for safe AI scaling in the next three years. (Zapier)

5. 8 in 10 companies feel they need to speed up AI adoption to keep pace with competitors. (Zapier)

6. AI agents can drive a 25% productivity increase. (McKinsey & Company)

7. 98% of business leaders say moving to an AI-powered network architecture will unlock more financial value. (Cisco)

8. AI data centers will need nearly $7 trillion globally by 2030 to meet the demand for processing power. (McKinsey & Company)

9. Global data center energy demand could triple by 2030, with 70% of that demand coming from AI. (McKinsey & Company)

10. Computing businesses will need to invest $5.2 trillion in data centers by 2030 to address the global need for AI. (McKinsey & Company)

Build better AI automations with Zapier

AI won't (necessarily) bolster your comedic timing in the break room, but it will improve productivity, profitability, and communication across your organization.

You can build better AI systems and automations with Zapier—an AI orchestration platform that connects 8,000+ apps to sync your tools, data, and departments—empowering you to create unified AI-powered automations that break down silos.

Related reading:

• Automation as a Service: What is it and how does it work?

• Enterprise automation: What it is and how to get started

• The best business automation software

• AI agents for business automation