28 August 2026

McKinsey survey finds AI adoption spreading unevenly across company sizes

First reported

The Register ran this on 25 August, 3 days before the next source picked it up.

McKinsey surveyed organizations on AI use and found conviction growing faster than measurable financial returns, with most still exploring rather than scaling deployments.
Among large companies with over $1 billion revenue, 40% are scaling AI agents (tools that work autonomously on tasks), up from 27% last year, while small organizations remain flat at 22%.
About a third of respondents replaced traditional software purchases with in-house AI coding tools, and 80% reported individual workers becoming more productive using AI.
Operating costs deter some, with 20% reducing AI use due to expenses, and 39% of surveyed leaders now expect their workforce to shrink within 12 months because of AI.
Only 6% of organizations currently allocate at least 5% of earnings to AI investment, a low figure that has held steady rather than declining.