Inside the C-suite:
3 trends in AI adoption
From job cuts to FOMO, here’s what 582
business leaders think about AI
We’ve identified three key trends from
The Future of AI + Leadership Survey
to provide a bird’s-eye view.
23% of business leaders say they’d replace human workers with AI without hesitation if it made financial sense.
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40% of business leaders say their orgs use or are testing agentic AI — systems that act without human help (think: AI-powered customer service).
The intrigue: Of all business leaders surveyed, 21% say they don't feel pressure to invest now but anticipate it — and 7% say AI is not a factor for them at all.
By company size:
83% of mid-to-large org leaders feel pressure to invest.
66% of small businesses do.
Of note: A quarter of small business leaders say they don’t feel the pressure yet but know it’s coming.
Zoom in by industry:
Large majorities of business leaders report feeling pressure to invest in AI in:
Professional services (81%).
Corporate and financial (73%).
Industrial and manufacturing (72%).
Of note: Corporate and financial leaders are especially likely to say they feel significant pressure (39%).
The industries where business leaders are most likely to say they don’t feel pressure to invest now, but anticipate it:
Government, nonprofit + association (33%).
Consumer + retail (29%).
Media, arts + entertainment (27%).
Healthcare + life sciences (26%).
Where to watch:
Northeast leaders feel significant pressure to invest in AI – 42% report feeling this pressure.
Just 16% of business leaders in the West say they currently feel any pressure at all to invest in AI, compared with 21% in the South and 24% in the Midwest.
Business leaders who feel pressure in the West and the South are more likely to say that pressure is significant; those in the Midwest, are more likely to be taking a measured approach.
72% of business leaders feel competitive pressure to invest in AI. Half of these leaders say that the pressure is significant, and half say they're taking a more measured approach.
Business leaders feel pressure to adopt AI — but some aren’t cracking yet
TREND #3
LEARN MORE
We’re moving toward the “don’t just assist me, do it for me” era
Half of mid-market and large enterprise leaders say their company is working with agentic AI, compared with 36% of smaller orgs.
Where roles are shifting: Orgs using agentic AI are more likely to be rethinking jobs in:
Customer service + admin (58%).
Marketing, sales + comms (53%).
Engineering, tech + product (43%).
Where it stands: For now, generative AI (think: ChatGPT) remains the most common (73% of business leaders say their org uses it).
Zoom in by industry:
Business leaders in the corporate and financial industries are among the most likely to say their companies are using or experimenting with AI, particularly agentic AI (57% say they’re using agentic AI; more than in any other industry).
Roughly a third or fewer business leaders across other industries (not financial/corporate) are using or experimenting with agentic AI.
A large majority of business leaders in almost every industry say their companies are using or experimenting with generative AI.
Two stand out for relatively low levels of uptake: Industrial and manufacturing (just 51% say they’re using it); and consumer + retail (56%).
Where to watch:
Northeast-based leaders report the highest rates of adoption for each type of AI we asked about — and it’s not close.
Few business leaders in any region say their company isn’t experimenting with any type of AI, but those outside the Northeast have much lower adoption rates.
For instance, fewer than 2 in 10 in the South (18%), Midwest (16%) and West (16%) are using or experimenting with generative AI.
Among business leaders who say they wouldn’t hesitate to make the cut:
90% are actively considering changing, cutting or repurposing human roles.
54% track AI’s ROI by reductions to payroll costs — more than double the share of leaders who say they’re more hesitant to cut jobs.
Who's leading the charge: These business leaders are more engaged with AI adoption, feel real board-level pressure to invest in the technology, and say AI is already delivering strong value.
Company size matters: Mid-market and large org leaders are twice as likely as small business leaders to say they wouldn’t hesitate to cut humans for AI (24% vs. 12%).
1 in 4 small business execs say they wouldn’t cut workers — human expertise is still essential.
Zoom in by industry:
Corporate and financial business leaders are the most likely to say they’d cut human workers without hesitation — 39% say they’d do this.
43% of these leaders say they’re measuring AI’s impact in direct reductions in headcount or payroll, and 45% say AI is delivering significant value.
They’re also looking at shifting a whole range of roles because of AI. Customer service and admin (57%); marketing and comms (52%); finance, risk and compliance (46%) and engineering, tech and product development (46%) are all up for discussion.
Health care and life sciences leaders are the least likely to say they’d cut staff without hesitation — 9% say they’d do this.
About half of business leaders in government, nonprofit + association (53%) and 41% of those in media + entertainment say they are not actively considering changing any roles, by far the highest percentage of any industry.
Where to watch:
A third of Northeast-based business leaders also say they’d cut human workers without hesitation — more than in any other region.
About 1 in 10 or fewer business leaders in the South (11%), West (7%) and Midwest (5%) say they’d cut workers without hesitation.
AI could lead to job cuts if it helps the bottom line
TREND #1
TREND #1
Presented by:
TREND #2
1 big thing: Business leaders aren’t just dabbling in AI anymore — they’re rethinking roles, rolling out AI models and feeling the heat to go all in.
LEARN MORE
Who we heard from:
This report was powered by Axios Intelligence.
61% of business leaders surveyed are presidents or CEOs.
About 4 in 10 (37%) are based in the South and 25% in the West. Fewer are based in the Midwest (18%) or Northeast (19%).
What’s next:
Axios Intelligence will continue to track executive sentiment on AI, providing ongoing insights into this rapidly evolving landscape.
39%
of corporate and financial business leaders say they'd cut human workers without hesitation
9%
health care and life sciences leaders say they'd cut human workers without hesitation
53%
of government, nonprofit + association business leaders say they're not actively considering changing any roles.
41%
of media + entertainment business leaders say they're not actively considering changing any roles.
vs.
AI could lead to job cuts if it helps the bottom line
TREND #1
23% of business leaders say they’d replace human workers with AI without hesitation if it made financial sense.
AI could lead to job cuts if it helps the bottom line
TREND #1
23% of business leaders say they’d replace human workers with AI without hesitation if it made financial sense.
40% of business leaders say their orgs use or are testing agentic AI — systems that act without human help (think: AI-powered customer service).
We’re moving toward the “don’t just assist me, do it for me” era
TREND #2
AI adoption is charging ahead — but not blindly.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Many business leaders are advancing with a focus on opportunity and a close eye on results. However, a shift toward more hands-off agentic AI could signal that trust in the tech is growing.
