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For all the talk of AI disrupting businesses, Enterprise AI adoption may be universal but scaled implementation is still elusive. A November 2025 global survey by McKinsey shows that more respondents report AI use by their organisations compared to the previous year, but most have yet to scale the technologies. The share of respondents saying their organisations are using AI in at least one business function is now at 88 percent, but at the enterprise level, the majority are still in the experimenting or piloting stages, with approximately one-third reporting that their companies have begun to scale their AI programs, the findings showed. Within the cohort that reported use of AI, not more than 10 per cent of respondents report scaling AI agents in any individual function. “Looking across the entire enterprise landscape, the use of agents is not yet widespread. This gap highlights the contrast between the great potential that manifests in a “hype cycle” and the current reality on the ground,” Michael Chui, senior fellow, McKinsey, said in the report. AI agent use is most commonly reported in IT and knowledge management function. By industry, the use of AI agents is most widely reported in the technology, media and telecommunications, and healthcare sectors. Financial commitment Signalling the financial commitment needed to scale AI use, nearly half of respondents from companies with more than $5 billion in revenue have reached the AI ‘scaling phase’ compared with 29 percent of those with less than $100 million in revenues. Further, for most, the use of AI has not yet significantly affected enterprise-wide EBIT, McKinsey says. While 39 percent attribute any level of EBIT impact to AI, most among these say that less than 5 per cent of their organization’s EBIT is attributable to AI use. As organisations expand their use of AI, companies also share differing perspectives on how AI might affect their workforce size in the year ahead. 32 percent expect decreases in workforce in the coming year, 43 percent anticipate no change, and 13 percent said their organization’s AI use led them to add head count within functions. Most respondents report little to no change in the number of employees due to their organization’s use of AI in the past year. A distinct group of respondents, defined as “AI high performers,” are the ones realizing substantial value from AI, the survey said. These organisations attribute over 5 per cent of EBIT to AI and make up ~6 per cent of the survey respondents. The survey was done by McKinsey from June 25 to July 29, 2025, and garnered responses from 1,993 participants in 105 nations. Published on November 10, 2025
