According to the Capgemini study "The multi-year AI advantage: Building the enterprise of tomorrow," for which 1505 executives from large companies worldwide were surveyed, 38 percent of organizations are already operationalizing generative AI use cases. Six out of ten companies are currently examining the use of agentic AI.
Almost half of the Chinese companies surveyed are piloting or implementing agentic AI—putting them ahead of the US and Europe. Two thirds of managers are convinced that those who do not scale AI as quickly as the competition are jeopardizing strategic opportunities and risking competitive disadvantages.
New ROI criteria
The evaluation of AI usage is also changing: operational efficiency and cost reduction are no longer the only benchmarks. New ROI criteria include revenue growth, risk management and compliance, knowledge management, customer experience and personalization. More than half of companies now also prioritize data sovereignty to ensure that sensitive or regulated data remains under their own control.
Looking ahead, companies want to accelerate their AI investments and focus on functions with clearly defined processes and measurable results. This means moving away from experimentation towards long-term value creation.
Almost two thirds are already pausing projects with low added value in order to redirect resources to areas with a high promise of success. On average, companies plan to allocate around five percent of their annual budget to AI in 2026, compared to three percent in 2025. "The AI euphoria is giving way to a hands-on pragmatism. The focus is shifting to long-term, company-wide implementations that increase productivity and improve decision-making for managers.
ㅤ
ㅤ
"Sales, customer experience, risk management and innovations are coming into focus."
Felizitas Graeber,
Managing Director
Capgemini Invent Germany
In addition, sales, customer experience, risk management and innovation are coming into focus," says Felizitas Graeber, Managing Director of Capgemini Invent in Germany and member of the management board of Capgemini Deutschland GmbH. "AI has crossed a decisive threshold: The question is no longer whether, but how to integrate AI into the corporate structure. Many organizations are already doing it right: they are relying on strong foundations of data, governance and the interaction between humans and AI."
Changed decision-making processes
Another spotlight study by Capgemini entitled "How AI is quietly reshaping executive decisions," based on a survey of 500 CXOs, including 100 CEOs, shows: More than half of CXOs are already actively or selectively using AI to support strategic decisions—a trend that will intensify over the next three years. Another third are in the experimental phase.
While AI currently provides support primarily for emails, meeting notes, documents, research and analysis, managers expect it to complement and challenge strategic thinking in three years' time.
(Source: Capgemini)
DE 
EN 
ES 
FR 
