Artificial intelligence is starting to deliver real financial returns for companies that have figured out how to deploy it properly. According to PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey, which polled 4,454 chief executives across 95 countries, 30% of companies report tangible revenue increases from AI adoption over the past 12 months, whilst 26% have achieved cost reductions.

The survey identifies a high-performing group achieving both objectives at once. 1 in 8 organisations has successfully increased revenue whilst reducing costs through AI deployment, demonstrating that the technology can deliver on its promise when implemented systematically.

When asked to identify their most pressing concern, chief executives ranked a clear winner: are we transforming our business fast enough to keep up with technology, including AI? This question reflects both the opportunity at hand and the urgency leaders feel to capitalise on it before competitive advantage shifts decisively to early movers.

The gap between companies leading in AI and those falling behind isn’t about having better technology. It comes down to how AI is actually used. The organisations seeing real results tend to approach AI in thoughtful, practical ways, and their experiences offer clear lessons for anyone still trying to make AI pay off.

Putting AI Where It Counts

Organisations that are pulling ahead with AI tend to use it in very different ways. They are far more likely to embed AI directly into their products, services and customer experiences. In fact, these leaders are around 2.5x more likely to use AI at scale in customer-facing areas, with 44% doing so compared to just 17% of other companies.

Rather than treating AI as a back-office experiment, these organisations bring it into the parts of the business that actually drive revenue. While internal functions can feel like a safer place to test new technology, real competitive advantage comes from improving how customers experience and interact with a brand.

Looking across the wider market, there is still plenty of room to grow. Only a small share of organisations currently use AI extensively in areas like demand generation, customer support, product development and strategic planning.These figures suggest that for many business, they are still in the early stages of their AI journey, with substantial opportunity to progress past pilots and start scaling what works across the organisation.

Building the foundations for success

The data suggests that real results tend to come when AI is rolled out across the business in a way that clearly supports overall strategy. Organisations seeing both revenue growth and cost savings are the ones that have gone furthest in putting the right building blocks in place, rather than relying on isolated experiments.

Those building blocks are surprisingly consistent. Strong performers typically have technology systems that allow AI to work smoothly across teams and platforms, a clear plan that ties AI projects back to business goals, and well-defined processes for using AI responsibly and managing risk. Just as important is a culture that encourages people to use AI confidently, instead of resisting or avoiding it.

Businesses that invest in these foundations are far better placed to unlock lasting value. While this approach often requires more upfront effort and investment, the evidence shows it pays off, especially compared to companies running one-off projects with no clear path to scale.

What stands out most is that success with AI isn’t really about the technology itself. The tools are widely available. The real differentiator is how well an organisation is set up to use them, scale them safely, and embed them into everyday ways of working.

Growing Revenue, Cutting Costs

Around 30% of organisations are already seeing revenue gains from AI, largely because they’ve moved beyond using it purely for efficiency. These companies are weaving AI into their products, services and customer experiences in ways that add real value, whether that’s improving existing offerings or opening up entirely new opportunities.

On the cost side, 26% of chief executives report savings, but those results rarely happen overnight. Early AI programmes often come with higher costs at first, as teams invest in tools, skills and infrastructure. The organisations that stay the course through this phase are the ones most likely to unlock both efficiency gains and stronger financial performance over time.

A smaller group, about 12%, has managed to achieve both revenue growth and cost reductions. They’ve reached a stage where AI supports the business from multiple angles, boosting top-line growth while also improving how efficiently the organisation runs. Their experience suggests that focusing on just one outcome can leave value on the table.

What sets these leaders apart is a balanced, more mature approach. Instead of treating revenue growth and cost savings as separate goals, they integrate AI across the entire value chain. That broader view allows benefits to show up in several areas at once, creating far more impact than narrow, single-use deployments.

Turning Insight Into Advantage

One of the biggest opportunities still on the table is using AI to support strategic decision-making. Only about 15% of organisations currently use AI extensively in this area, even though it’s particularly well suited to analysing large, complex data sets and turning them into useful insights.

Some forward-thinking leaders are starting to change that. They’re using AI to spot patterns in market trends, competitive activity and customer behaviour that would be almost impossible to see manually. When AI informs decisions at this level, the benefits tend to ripple through the entire organisation, making this one of the most powerful ways to create value.

A similar story plays out in core commercial functions. With just 22% of organisations applying AI deeply to demand generation and only 13% to demand fulfilment, there’s plenty of room to do more. The companies seeing the strongest financial results tend to integrate AI across the full value chain, especially in customer-facing areas where performance has a direct impact on revenue.

This broader, end-to-end approach is what unlocks real scale. Improving individual functions can deliver wins, but connecting AI across multiple, interlinked processes is what creates lasting competitive advantage.

The Habits Behind High Performers

Half of all chief executives describe innovation as central to their business strategy, positioning their organisations to capitalise on AI and other emerging technologies. The survey reveals that companies employing a critical mass of innovation practices achieve higher percentages of sales from new products and services, faster overall revenue growth, and superior profit margins.

Effective innovation practices include tolerance for high-risk projects, routine processes to evaluate and stop underperforming initiatives, defined innovation centres or corporate venturing divisions, rapid testing of new ideas with customers, collaboration with external partners, and systematic integration of innovation into business strategy.

Organisations implementing at least five of these six practices to a large extent comprise just 8% of the sample, yet this group demonstrates significantly stronger performance across multiple metrics. The same disciplines that enable successful innovation generally also support effective AI deployment: tolerance for experimentation, clear criteria for continuing or stopping projects, and systematic approaches to capturing value from new technologies.

Companies building these capabilities position themselves not only for AI success but for sustained innovation across whatever technologies emerge next. The organisational foundations that enable effective AI deployment create durable competitive advantage independent of any single technology.

Learning From What Works

For organisations that haven’t yet seen clear returns from AI, the findings present both a reality check and a real opportunity. There is a noticeable gap between the leaders and everyone else, but the upside is that the path forward is becoming easier to see. The companies pulling ahead are following similar patterns, offering a practical blueprint others can learn from.

For leadership teams, this starts with stepping back and asking whether AI initiatives genuinely support wider business goals. It also means being honest about where AI could solve real problems, rather than running small pilots that generate excitement but never quite move the needle. Sustainable impact tends to come from investing in the foundations that allow AI to scale across the organisation.

That journey does require patience. Early investment often shows up as cost before it delivers returns, and staying committed through that phase is critical. Organisations that continue building skills, systems and confidence are far better placed to catch up, while those that pause or jump to the next trend risk slipping further behind.

With more than half of organisations still not seeing revenue growth or cost savings from AI, the opportunity is significant. The technology has already proven what it can do. The real question now is whether organisations are ready to put the right structures in place to use it well.

Staying Ahead as AI Matures

The gap between AI leaders and everyone else is likely to grow as the technology matures. Organisations that have already built strong foundations and deployed AI across the business are able to learn faster, adapt more quickly and improve continuously. Those still running isolated pilots simply can’t move at the same pace, and the advantage compounds over time.

For business leaders, the opportunity is straightforward. Investing properly in enterprise-wide AI capabilities puts organisations in a position to benefit as the technology evolves. By contrast, scattered projects without a clear plan rarely deliver lasting impact or meaningful returns.

What sets the leading group apart isn’t access to better technology, but the systems, processes and culture they’ve built around it. They show that AI’s potential is very real, but only when organisations commit to using it in a structured, intentional way.

The results are already visible. The small group achieving both revenue growth and cost savings demonstrates that AI can deliver tangible value today when it’s aligned to business strategy and embedded across the organisation.