- Generative AI is already deployed, agentic AI is in the pipelines of many organizations
- AI in decision-making is expected to grow, but humans remain a crucial element
- Investments in infrastructure and data will increase in 2026
A new study from Capgemini has quantified a trend we’ve talked about many times before: AI has evolved from experimentation to implementation. And it is clear that agentic AI is certainly proving more popular than generative AI.
Capgemini explained that around two in five (38%) have already operationalized generative AI, but three in five (60%) have now started exploring agentic AI use cases, attracted by the promises of greater autonomy and productivity.
Unsurprisingly, China is leading the way, with almost half of companies having piloted or deployed AI agents, ahead of the United States and Europe.
Where does AI go next?
According to the data, cost savings are not the only way companies measure ROI. Many are now looking to other metrics such as revenue growth, risk management, compliance, knowledge management, customer experience and personalization.
“We have now entered a new, more pragmatic and realistic era of AI-driven transformation, focused on longer-term enterprise-wide implementations, to improve not only productivity, but also revenue, customer experience, risk management, innovation or decision-making,” wrote Pascal Brier, Capgemini’s chief innovation officer.
Currently popular in emails and documents, meeting notes, and research and analysis, Capgemini expects AI to also find its way into strategic thinking. More than half of executives already use AI to support their decision-making.
However, the usual challenges remain, years after AI became widely available. Only two-fifths (41%) of CEOs, CFOs and COOs have above-average confidence in AI to make decisions, with legal risks, security risks and a lack of explainability highlighted by skeptics.
Then there is the human touch. Only 1% believe AI could make strategic decisions autonomously in the next three years, with AI widely seen as a tool to help executives access information and data, not as a substitute for human judgment.
Looking ahead, and with AI spending reaching 5% of annual budgets (up from 3% in 2025), 2026 will see investments in infrastructure, data foundations, governance and workforce upskilling.
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