Organisations worldwide are moving beyond pilots and seeking to embed AI into core workflows and offerings, striving to scale investments, reveals the latest report of the KPMG Global Tech Report 2026.
The new report identifies that while expectations are high and adoption is rapid, scaling can introduce additional complexity, and returns vary widely.
Enterprises are pushing hard on AI, yet execution maturity is trailing ambition. 68 percent of organisations aim to reach the highest level of AI maturity by 2026, but only 24 percent are there today — highlighting the challenge of scaling beyond pilots.
AI is also shifting toward autonomy. 88 percent are investing in agentic AI, embedding systems that can reason and act with minimal human input. While 74 percent say AI use cases are delivering business value, only 24 percent achieve ROI across multiple initiatives, showing that replication at scale remains difficult.
Ecosystems are becoming critical. 90 percent plan to expand partnerships over the next year, yet 53 percent still face talent shortages that slow transformation. As a result, 78 percent of leaders say taking greater risks on emerging technologies is now essential to stay competitive.
The direction is clear: AI adoption is accelerating, but the real differentiator will be how quickly organisations convert ambition into scalable, enterprise-wide impact.
Can ambition match reality?
The report questions whether ambition can match reality, and whether organisations can keep one eye on the next wave of innovation while delivering on today’s agenda.
“The future belongs to leaders who turn intelligence into advantage. Our research shows organisations are pushing past the early phase of ‘AI roulette’, placing scattered bets on multiple technologies, and are now increasingly focused on delivering value,” said Guy Holland, Global Leader, CIO Center of Excellence, KPMG International.
“Our 2026 Global Tech Report provides a synopsis of the critical things that high performers are doing better than most; a checklist for tech leaders looking to improve their organisational performance, emulate the high performers, and deliver higher ROI,” adds Holland.
The report is based on a survey of 2,500 executives from 27 countries and territories of which 29 percent are from Asia Pacific; 43 percent from Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and 28 percent from the Americas.
Respondents represent eight industries: automotive, consumer and retail, energy, financial services, government, healthcare and life sciences, industrial manufacturing, and technology and telecommunications.
