One in Five Companies Capture Three-Quarters of AI Profits, PwC Finds

Corporate AI deployments have grown over the past two years at a pace the tech industry hasn't seen in a long time, but a new PwC report shows the financial benefits of this wave are landing in very few hands. Just one-fifth of organizations are capturing nearly three-quarters of all the economic value generated by artificial intelligence, while the rest remain stuck in pilot mode with no real impact on their bottom line.

What the study found

PwC published the results of its annual global AI Performance Study, which surveyed 1,217 senior executives, mostly from large publicly traded companies operating across 25 industries worldwide. Respondents were asked directly about the revenue and efficiency gains they are actually seeing from artificial intelligence, not just about deployment announcements or future plans.

The result is unambiguous: a small group of leaders is capturing the vast majority of the benefits. The report's authors describe a clear and widening gap between the handful of companies actually scaling AI and the majority of organizations still stuck in testing and one-off pilot projects with no measurable return.

Why leaders win

The study finds that success isn't determined by how many AI tools a company deploys, but by how it uses them. Leading companies treat artificial intelligence as a catalyst for growth and business model transformation rather than purely a cost-cutting tool. They are 2.6 times more likely to say AI improves their ability to reinvent their business, and two to three times more likely than competitors to use AI to capture growth opportunities emerging at the intersection of converging industries.

According to PwC's analysis, the ability to capture opportunities arising from industry convergence is the single strongest factor influencing AI-related financial performance, stronger than operational savings alone. Leaders are also three times more likely to have formal processes in place for scaling AI innovation across departments, and three times more likely to use AI to enter entirely new markets.

Many companies are aggressively launching AI pilots, but only a minority are converting that activity into measurable financial returns. Leaders stand out by directing AI toward growth rather than just cost reduction, and by building the foundations that make AI scalable and trustworthy - Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer, PwC

Trust, oversight and shadow AI

The report also shows that financial success goes hand in hand with organizational discipline. The companies with the best financial performance are 70% more likely to implement formal responsible AI policies than the rest of the market. They are also twice as likely to offer employees role-specific training, and employee trust in AI-generated outputs is 2.1 times higher at these organizations than elsewhere.

Shadow AI, the use of AI tools outside official IT department oversight, remains a problem. According to data cited in the analysis, nearly half of users log into external AI systems through private accounts, making it impossible to track the flow of company data. Without full visibility into infrastructure, it's difficult to control costs and meet regulatory requirements, and investing in proper oversight could, according to estimates cited in commentary on the study, cut security incidents by as much as half over five years.

What this means for business

For executives in Poland and the region, the report's findings add up to a simple but uncomfortable takeaway: merely buying AI tool licenses or launching a handful of pilot projects doesn't automatically translate into financial results. Without changes to decision-making processes, clear oversight rules and a concrete business goal, AI spending risks remaining a cost rather than an investment that pays off in revenue.

Growing regulatory requirements, including the EU's AI Act and the NIS2 directive, are further pushing companies toward greater transparency in managing AI tools, which according to PwC favors the organizations that have already invested in formal oversight of data and models. Companies just beginning to put these foundations in place risk spending years catching up, while leaders continue to widen their lead.

PwC's report fits into a broader market picture in which a growing number of studies show a gap between declared enthusiasm for AI and actual financial results. The scale of the disparity, a sevenfold difference in results between leaders and everyone else, is nonetheless one of the starkest such gaps measured to date.