Most companies struggle to actually use AI, new study finds

Companies worldwide continue to invest heavily in artificial intelligence (AI)—the technology that powers chatbots and automated decision-making. Yet a surprising problem has emerged: most of them can't figure out how to actually use it.

According to new research, only about one in four companies successfully scales AI—meaning they manage to integrate it into their everyday operations across the whole organization. The other 75% either abandon their AI projects or keep them stuck in small pilot programs that never grow beyond a single department.

Why does this happen? The gap between investing in AI and making it work is about much more than just technology. Companies often lack clear plans, struggle to find trained staff, or simply don't have the right data to feed their AI systems. It's like buying a powerful tool without knowing how to use it properly.

For everyday users and workers, this matters because it means the AI tools that reach the market are often built by companies that have figured out the process—while many promising applications never see the light of day. Understanding this gap helps explain why some AI services feel polished while others feel experimental or disappear altogether.