Irish firms are too slow to translate AI experimentation into revenue and cost benefits.
Just a small group of companies is pulling ahead in the race to turn artificial intelligence (AI) into hard financial results.
That’s according to a new global study by PwC that finds nearly three quarter of the total economic value generated by AI is being captured by just 20% of organisations.
“Value shows up when AI is embedded in everyday workflows, not isolated pilots”
According to the study these companies are being distinguished not by the sheer number of AI tools they deploy, but by how deeply they integrate the technology into growth strategies.
The global study interviewed 1,217 senior executives around the world including in Ireland, 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.
Who leads and who follows with AI?
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.
AI leaders invest two and a half times more than all others and are far more likely to manage that investment nimbly.
“Many companies are busy rolling out AI pilots, but only a minority are converting that activity into measurable financial returns,” said David Lee, chief technology leader at PwC in Ireland.
“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.
“Based on our previous studies, Irish companies do somewhat lag global peers where AI implementation and benefits are concerned.
“Although widespread experimentation with AI in Ireland, PwC’s 2026 Irish CEO survey reveals fewer Irish CEOs (8%) report AI application across a range of business areas compared to global counterparts (18%) including demand generation, products/services/experiences and strategic direction setting.
“Some of the benefits from AI are also taking longer to come through compared to global peers with Irish organisations seeing the opportunities from AI, but are not yet grasping the transformative powers: 17% of Irish CEOs say that AI has delivered increased revenues in the past 12 months, behind global peers (29%). Nearly a quarter (23%) say that AI has delivered cost reductions in the past 12 months, also behind global peers (26%),” Lee said.
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.
A widening gap
Companies leading on AI report 2.6 times as likely as peers to report AI improves their ability to reinvent their business model.
They are also 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.
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.
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.
Martin Duffy, Head of AI & Emerging Technologies, PwC Ireland, concluded: “AI return on investment comes down to execution discipline: clear metrics, fast stop-or-scale decisions and designs built for reuse. Value shows up when AI is embedded in everyday workflows, not isolated pilots.”
Top image: AI generated
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