Only 16% of enterprises get transformative AI value, poll finds

The poll paints a picture of widespread AI adoption without commensurate returns. While every organization surveyed uses AI to some degree, fewer than one in five report transformative value, and nearly a quarter see minimal or no returns. This suggests that simply deploying sophisticated tools is not enough; the missing ingredient, according to Prukalpa Sankar of Atlan, is context—how well AI understands a specific business.

Most companies remain in early phases: 38% are piloting use cases and 35% are using AI to assist employees through copilots or chat assistants. Only 12% have AI agents in production and 3% use AI for most work in key processes. The gap between capability and usefulness is stark, and Sankar's analogy of a blindfolded intern illustrates why context layers may be essential for translating enterprise intelligence into governed, machine-usable context for AI.