Gap widens between AI leaders and struggling businesses, says PwC

Three-quarters of AI’s economic gains are being captured by just 20 per cent of companies, with leading businesses using the technology to drive growth rather than simply improve productivity, according to consulting and advisory firm PwC.

The firm’s new AI Performance study found that 74 per cent of AI’s economic value is being captured by just one-fifth of organisations, pointing to a widening gap between a small group of AI leaders and the majority of businesses still struggling to move beyond pilot projects. 

The global study, which interviewed 1,217 senior executives, mainly at large, publicly listed companies across 25 sectors, examined the revenue and efficiency gains companies are seeing from AI today, as well as the way they are deploying the technology. 

It found that the top-performing companies are not simply using more AI tools. Instead, they are treating AI as a catalyst for growth, business reinvention and new revenue opportunities, particularly as industries converge and companies move beyond their traditional boundaries. 

This is where the gap becomes clearer. Leading companies are approximately two to three times more likely to use AI to identify and pursue growth opportunities, while also being more likely to reinvent their business models. 

According to PwC, they are also twice as likely to redesign workflows to incorporate AI, rather than simply adding AI tools to existing processes. 

The distinction matters because companies with the strongest AI performance are using the technology not only to improve efficiency, but also to reshape how they operate and where future growth will come from. 

More specifically, the research showed that AI leaders are 2.6 times as likely as their peers to report that AI improves their ability to reinvent their business model. 

They are also two to three times as likely as other companies to say they use AI to identify and pursue growth opportunities arising from industry convergence, including by collaborating with partners outside their core sector. 

PwC’s analysis identified growth opportunities from industry convergence as the single strongest factor influencing AI-driven financial performance, ahead of efficiency gains alone. 

The study also found clear differences in how leading companies use AI inside the enterprise. 

Companies with the best AI-driven financial outcomes are nearly twice as likely as others to say they are using AI in more advanced ways, including executing multiple tasks within guardrails, at 1.8 times the rate of peers, or operating in autonomous, self-optimising ways, at 1.9 times the rate of peers. 

This greater level of automation is also reflected in decision-making. AI leaders are increasing the number of decisions made without human intervention at almost three times the rate of other companies, with the study putting the figure at 2.8 times. 

However, the research also makes clear that automation is not being pursued in isolation. 

Instead, this shift is being supported by stronger governance and trust mechanisms, with AI leaders more likely than other companies to have a Responsible AI framework, at 1.7 times the rate of peers, and a cross-functional AI governance board, at 1.5 times the rate. 

As a result, their employees are twice as likely to trust AI outputs. 

The company mentioned that without a shift in approach, the performance gap between AI leaders and laggards is likely to widen further, as leading companies continue to learn faster, scale proven use cases and automate decisions safely at scale.