Business leaders enter a more pragmatic phase of AI adoption, finds Capgemini research

Capgemini Research Institute says enterprises are moving beyond AI hype, focusing on governance, skills and accountability as leaders increasingly embed AI into decision-making and redirect investments toward scalable, high-impact use cases heading into 2026.

After years of experimentation and inflated expectations, business leaders are becoming more pragmatic and deliberate about how they deploy artificial intelligence, according to new research released by the Capgemini Research Institute.

The findings are detailed in a new report, The multi-year AI advantage: Building the enterprise of tomorrow, alongside a spotlight study titled How AI is quietly reshaping executive decisions. Together, the reports suggest that as organisations enter 2026, success with AI will depend less on pilot projects and more on governance, leadership readiness, skills development and effective collaboration between humans and machines.

From experimentation to enterprise-scale AI

Based on a global survey of 1,505 executives at large organisations, the research shows that AI adoption is advancing steadily. Around 38% of organisations have already operationalised generative AI use cases, while six in ten are exploring agentic AI applications. Chinese organisations are leading in agentic AI adoption, with nearly half piloting or deploying such systems, ahead of their US and European counterparts.

The study also highlights rising competitive pressure. Nearly two thirds of business leaders believe failing to scale AI as fast as competitors could result in lost strategic opportunities. As a result, organisations are rethinking how they movie AI success, shifting beyond traditional metrics such as cost reduction and operational efficiency to include revenue growth, risk management, compliance, knowledge management, and customer experience.

Data sovereignty is also gaining prominence, with more than half of organisations prioritising control over sensitive and regulated data as AI systems become more deeply embedded in core operations.

AI budgets rise as focus sharpens

Looking ahead, organisations are planning to increase AI investments while becoming more selective about where they deploy capital. Nearly two thirds of executives say they have paused lower-value AI initiatives to concentrate on projects with clearer outcomes and long-term value.

On average, organisations expect to allocate around 5% of their annual business budgets to AI initiatives in 2026, up from 3% in 2025. Spending priorities include infrastructure, data foundations, governance frameworks and workforce upskilling, signalling a move from experimentation toward sustainable, enterprise-wide AI adoption.

“We have now entered a new, more pragmatic and realistic era of AI-driven transformation,” said Pascal Brier, Chief Innovation Officer at Capgemini. He added that leadership readiness has emerged as a critical success factor, as AI increasingly informs strategic decision-making across organisations.

AI’s growing role in executive decision-making

The spotlight report on decision-making, which surveyed 500 CXOs including 100 CEOs, reveals that more than half of senior leaders already use AI to support strategic decisions, either actively or selectively. This number is expected to rise sharply over the next three years, with executives anticipating greater use of AI to augment and challenge strategic thinking rather than simply automate routine tasks.

Early adopters report tangible benefits, including reduced decision-making time and costs, as well as improved creativity and foresight. However, trust remains a concern. Only 41% of CEOs, CFOs and COOs report above-average trust in AI for executive decisions, citing legal risks, security concerns and the difficulty of explaining AI-influenced outcomes.

Despite growing adoption, leaders remain cautious about transparency. Just 11% of CXOs say they currently highlight or plan to highlight AI use in business decisions, reflecting ongoing concerns about reputational risk and public perception.

The research concludes that while AI is becoming an integral input to executive decision-making, human judgment remains firmly in control, marking a shift toward more balanced, accountable and value-driven AI adoption across enterprises.