Data study ·
The Value Formula for Agentic AI
- Publication
- Boston Consulting Group (United States)
- Authors
- Jessica Apotheker , Vinciane Beauchene , Nicolas de Bellefonds , Dylan Bolden , Sylvain Duranton , Marc Roman Franke , Michael Grebe , Nina Kataeva , Santeri Kirvelä , Djon Kleine , Romain de Laubier , Vladimir Lukic , Amanda Luther , David Martin , Natasha Taylor , Jeff Walters , Rich Lesser , Christoph Schweizer
- Published on
- 30 September 2026 · read in the page structured data · updated on 29 September 2026
Summary
According to the BCG 2026 Applied AI Index, based on a survey of more than 1,300 executives (CxOs) across more than 20 industries, nearly 50% of companies are now generating value from AI. 7.5% are classed as "future-built" (the most mature), 41% are scaling, 47% are at the emerging stage and 4.5% remain stagnant. The most mature companies show revenue growth 2.4 times higher than the least advanced. The share of value generated by agentic AI rose from 17% to 22% between 2025 and 2026, with a projection of 39% in 2030. AI spending has more than tripled, from around 1% to 3.3% of revenue in two years. BCG stresses that 70% of the transformation effort should focus on people, organisation and processes, rather than on technology alone.
Summary based on the full text of the article.
Read the article on Boston Consulting Group →Figures cited
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50 %
Share of companies generating value from AI
Companies worldwide, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index survey, more than 1,300 CxOs and executives, 20+ industries
« Almost 50% of companies in BCG’s 2026 Applied AI Index now generate value from AI, as organizations move beyond experimentation and begin to scale. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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7.5 %
Share of companies classed as "future-built" (the most mature in AI)
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« Of the full set of companies we analyzed, 7.5% are future-built (the most AI-mature), and another 41% are scaling, meaning that they create some value from AI but have the opportunity to do more. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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41 %
Share of companies at the AI scaling stage
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« Of the full set of companies we analyzed, 7.5% are future-built (the most AI-mature), and another 41% are scaling, meaning that they create some value from AI but have the opportunity to do more. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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2.4 times
Revenue growth of the most AI-mature companies compared with the bottom half of the sample
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« As a result, they show 2.4 times as much top-line growth as companies in the bottom half of our sample. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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22 %
Share of total AI value generated by agentic AI in 2026
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index, compared with 17% in 2025 and a projection of 39% in 2030
« The agentic share of total AI value has already climbed from 17% in the 2025 sample to 22% in the 2026 sample, and it is on track to reach 39% by 2030. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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44 %
Share of future-built companies already realising value from agentic AI
Future-built companies, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« 44% of future-built companies say that they already realize value from agentic AI today, whereas very few laggards (2%) do. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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3 times
Agentic AI value generated by companies with all six AI controls in place compared with those with only one
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« In our data, companies with all six AI controls in place across the enterprise generate three times as much agentic AI value as companies with just one control. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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55 %
Share of future-built companies practising strategic workforce planning in response to AI
Future-built companies vs laggards (17%), BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« Such planning is practiced by 55% of future-built companies versus 17% of laggards. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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90 %
Share of respondents expecting AI to create new jobs rather than replace existing ones
More than 1,300 CxO respondents, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« Nearly 90% of survey respondents expect AI to generate new work, versus roughly 10% who expect it to primarily replace existing jobs. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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95 %
Share of future-built companies undertaking a data transformation
Future-built companies, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« 95% are undergoing a data transformation, and more than two-thirds are committing to a single enterprise-wide AI platform with a common architecture and control plane, instead of a single-vendor stack. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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5 times
Value generated by companies combining strategic clarity and applied AI compared with those that do not prioritise both
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« The companies that perform well in both dimensions generate five times as much value from AI as companies that don’t prioritize strategic clarity and applied AI. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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3.3 %
AI spending as a share of revenue, today
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index, versus around 1% in early 2025
« AI spending has more than tripled in two years, from about 1% of revenue in early 2025 to 3.3% today. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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80 %
Share of AI spending located outside corporate IT
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« Across all companies surveyed, 80% of AI spending sits outside enterprise IT. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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3.5 times
Likelihood of future-built companies funding a single multi-year programme compared with laggards
Future-built companies (61%) vs laggards (17%), BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« future-built companies are 3.5 times more likely than laggards to fund a single multiyear program (61% versus 17%), and they concentrate it on fewer, higher-value workflows. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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3.6 %
AI value realised (as a % of revenue) by companies that track return on investment through the P&L
Compared with 1.2% for companies that do not measure it formally, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« those tracking directly in the P&L realize three times the AI value of companies that do not formally measure it—3.6% versus 1.2%. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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42 %
Share of companies expecting their AI agents to act autonomously by 2030, without adequate controls in place
Global sample, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index, versus only 5% that have the necessary controls
« 42% of companies expect their agents to act autonomously by 2030, deciding without human approval, and just 5% have the relevant agent controls in place. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
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12.5 %
Expected workforce reduction due to AI
Range of 10 to 15%, BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
« companies expect a workforce reduction of roughly 10% to 15% from AI, yet 89% expect AI to generate new work, and 11% expect it mainly to replace existing jobs. »
Source: BCG 2026 Applied AI Index
Classification
- Country
- Worldwide scope
- Company size
- All sizes
- Industries
- All industries, or industry not specified · Banking, insurance, asset management, finance departments
- Companies
- Boston Consulting Group (study author)
- Keywords
- agentic AI, AI governance, AI return on investment, workforce planning, data transformation, enterprise AI adoption
Boston Consulting Group sells AI services or products: its studies and publications should be read with that interest in mind.
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 Boston Consulting Group and its authors. Entry translated from French by Claude Sonnet 5.5.