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AI's leap in Spain: 60.5% of companies already include it in their strategy, but only 17.3% achieve a high return on investment

Original title, in Spanish: “El salto de la IA en España: el 60,5% de empresas ya la integra en su estrategia pero solo el 17,3% logra un...”

Publication
Europa Press (Spain)
Author
Unsigned
Published on
29 September 2026 · read in the page structured data

Summary

According to the second edition of the report 'Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust', produced by SAS on the basis of an IDC survey, 60.5% of Spanish companies already include generative AI in their strategy, the highest rate in Europe, but only 17.3% achieve a high return on investment and 37% improve their EBIT. 88% of proofs of concept fail before reaching production. Spain's AI impact index has fallen from 61 to 53.1 points. Employees ignore AI recommendations in 35.1% of cases, owing to a lack of explainability. Only 18.5% of companies require data quality as a mandatory criterion. Jorge Zafra, marketing director of SAS Iberia, refers to a "healthy pause". 79% of companies plan to increase their AI budget next year.

Summary based on the full text of the article.

Read the article on Europa Press →

Figures cited

  • 60.5 %

    share of Spanish companies including generative AI in their strategy

    Spain

    « con un 60,5 por ciento de compañías que las integran en su estrategia »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 17.3 %

    share of Spanish companies achieving a high ROI on AI

    Spain

    « solo el 17,3 por ciento logra un retorno de inversión (ROI) alto »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 80 %

    share of employees reporting significant time savings thanks to AI

    Spain, employees

    « el 80 por ciento de los empleados aseguran obtener importantes ahorros de tiempo en sus rutinas diarias gracias a la IA »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 37 %

    share of companies improving their operating profit (EBIT) thanks to AI

    Spain

    « Solo el 37 por ciento logra mejorar su beneficio operativo o EBIT »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 88 %

    share of AI proofs of concept that fail before going into production

    Spain

    « el 88 por ciento de las pruebas de concepto de IA fracasa en su paso a producción »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 53.1 points

    AI impact index in Spain, current edition

    Spain

    « el índice del impacto de la IA en España ha descendido hasta los 53,1 puntos, frente a los 61 del año anterior »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 61 points

    AI impact index in Spain, previous edition

    Spain, previous year

    « el índice del impacto de la IA en España ha descendido hasta los 53,1 puntos, frente a los 61 del año anterior »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 35.1 %

    share of cases in which professionals ignore AI recommendations

    Spain

    « los profesionales deciden ignorar las recomendaciones de la IA en un 35,1 por ciento de los casos »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 43.2 %

    share of Spanish companies managing data quality in isolation

    Spain

    « un 43,2 por ciento de las empresas españolas gestiona la calidad de sus datos de forma aislada »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 18.5 %

    share of companies requiring data quality as a mandatory criterion on all projects

    Spain

    « apenas un 18,5 por ciento lo exige como requisito obligatorio en todos sus proyectos »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 15 x

    increased likelihood of achieving a solid ROI with reliable AI governance

    worldwide

    « las empresas que son capaces de aplicar prácticas de IA confiable y gobernanza tienen quince veces más probabilidades de obtener un ROI sólido »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

  • 79 %

    share of Spanish companies planning to increase their AI budget next year

    Spain

    « el 79 por ciento de las compañías prevé incrementar su presupuesto en inteligencia artificial durante el próximo año »

    Source: Data and AI Impact Report: The New Economics of Trust (SAS/IDC)

Classification

Country
Spain
Company size
All sizes
Industries
All industries, or industry not specified
Companies
SAS (study author), IDC (study author)
Keywords
return on investment, data governance, generative artificial intelligence, AI adoption, productivity

Entry written by Marsanne Studio from the cited article, with the help of an AI model (claude-sonnet-5). The rights to the article and its illustrations belong to Europa Press. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.