The fourth edition of the Wharton-GBK study tracks AI adoption, return, agent use and workforce impact over four years. In 2026, 91 percent of firms use AI at least weekly and 62 percent daily. Positive return is near-universal at 80 percent, but strongly positive return reaches only 28 percent, concentrated among firms measuring growth rather than efficiency alone.
The fourth annual Wharton-GBK adoption report compares four survey waves since 2023 and tracks how AI use, return, agent deployment and workforce effects evolve inside companies. Weekly or more frequent use rose from 37 percent in 2023 to 72 percent in 2024, 82 percent in 2025 and 91 percent in 2026, while daily use reached 62 percent. Positive return is now near-universal at 80 percent, but strongly positive return stays at 28 percent, rising to 35 percent among departments that measure growth rather than pure efficiency, against 13 percent for efficiency-only teams.
What separates strong results from weak ones is depth of integration. Companies that have fully redesigned workflows, assigned clear ownership and built governance report strongly positive returns far more often. Two thirds of departments use AI agents, yet only 17 percent let an agent finish a task without approval at every step, and that supervised middle ground is where returns are weakest. Firms meeting all three markers of transformation report strongly positive returns in 67 percent of cases, against 19 percent for the rest.
Sentiment is cooling even as usage climbs: skeptical responses rose by 9 percentage points while excited responses fell by 8. A gap also persists between how leaders and entry-level staff judge whether the company's AI strategy is actually aligned. It remains open whether firms close that gap before competitive pressure from more deeply integrated organizations increases.
What this means for decision-makers
- Decide whether you judge AI success by growth or by time saved, since that choice drives the size of your return.
- Rebuild management structures and clear ownership for AI instead of relying mainly on headcount cuts.
- Close the perception gap between leadership and entry-level staff with a clearly communicated AI strategy.
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