Three-quarters of AI’s economic gains are being captured by just 20% of companies—with the leading companies focused on growth, not just productivity: PwC

View this page in: 繁體中文版

• The leading companies are two to three times more likely to use AI to identify and pursue growth opportunities, while reinventing their business models.
• They are twice as likely to redesign workflows to incorporate AI rather than simply adding AI tools.

Hong Kong, 15 April 2026—A small group of companies is pulling sharply ahead in the race to generate real financial returns from artificial intelligence, according to PwC’s new AI Performance study.

The global study interviewed 1,217 senior executives, primarily at large, publicly listed companies across 25 sectors, asking them about the revenue and efficiency gains they are seeing from AI today, alongside questions about how they deploy the technology.

It finds that nearly three‑quarters (74%) of AI’s economic value is captured by just one‑fifth (20%) of organisations, revealing a stark and widening divide between a small group of AI leaders and the majority of businesses still stuck in pilot mode.

The research shows that these top‑performing companies are not simply deploying more AI tools. Instead, they are using AI as a catalyst for growth and business reinvention, particularly by pursuing new revenue opportunities created as industries converge, while building strong foundations around data, governance and trust.

Joe Atkinson, Global Chief AI Officer, PwC, said: “Many companies are busy rolling out AI pilots, but only a minority are converting that activity into measurable financial returns. The leaders stand out because they point AI at growth, not just cost reduction, and back that ambition with the foundations that make AI scalable and reliable.”

Charles Lee, Vice Chair and Managing Partner, PwC China, said: “The Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong SAR rank first and second respectively among all territories based on our AI Fitness Index. The research shows that Chinese Mainland companies slightly outperform their counterparts in AI-leading territories globally, and show a marginally greater advantage in AI application compared to foundational infrastructure. Hong Kong SAR shows solid performance in structured data usage and modernised IT infrastructure, with Vision & Strategy emerging as the strongest sub-factor in the AI Fitness Index.”

Growth, not just productivity, separates AI leaders

Organisations with the strongest AI performance treat the technology as a reinvention engine, using it to reshape business models and expand beyond traditional industry boundaries. Companies leading on AI are:

• 2.6 times as likely as peers to report that AI improves their ability to reinvent their business model;
• Two to three times as likely as others to say they use AI to identify and pursue growth opportunities arising from industry convergence, such as collaborating with partners outside their core sector.

PwC’s analysis shows that capturing growth opportunities from industry convergence is the single strongest factor influencing AI‑driven financial performance, ahead of efficiency gains alone.

Trust and automation combine to deliver outcomes

The research also highlights significant differences in how leading companies deploy AI inside the enterprise. Companies with the best AI-driven financial outcomes are nearly twice as likely as other companies to say they’re using AI in advanced ways: executing multiple tasks within guardrails (1.8x) or operating in autonomous, self-optimising ways (1.9x).

AI leaders are increasing the number of decisions made without human intervention at almost three times (2.8x) the rate of peers.

This automation is enabled by a focus on ‘trust at scale’. AI leaders are more likely than other companies to have mechanisms such as a Responsible AI framework (1.7x as likely as other companies) and a cross-functional AI governance board (1.5x). As a result of their efforts, their employees are twice as likely to trust AI outputs.

A widening gap

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.

Wilson Chow, AI Leader, PwC China, said: “Companies should establish a focused AI value proposition that identifies priority areas for competitive advantage, defines necessary changes to their business model and capabilities, and links success to specific metrics. This will be executed through a phased roadmap that aligns high-impact use cases with foundational data and technology, all governed by a C-suite-led accountability system.”

Notes to editors

About PwC’s 2026 AI Performance Study

PwC’s study is based on a survey of 1,217 senior executives (director level and above) from companies across 25 sectors and multiple regions worldwide. AI‑driven performance was measured as the revenue and efficiency gains attributable to AI, adjusted against industry medians. PwC analysed the impact of 60 AI management and investment practices, grouped into AI use and AI foundations, which together form PwC’s AI fitness index.

Please click the link to access the full report: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/so-you-can/2026/content/roi-from-ai.pdf