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KPMG AI Quarterly Pulse Survey

High hopes, high hurdles, and the pursuit of realizing value in 2025

As macroeconomic pressures, investor demands, and efficiency imperatives mount, business leaders are actively working to align their GenAI ambitions with practical execution.

See below to learn more.

"Our latest pulse survey confirms what we’re seeing with clients: organizations are doubling down on AI investments. The data also shows growing momentum around AI agents, with over half of organizations exploring their use. Leaders are putting real dollars behind agents, but with mounting pressure to demonstrate ROI, getting the value story right is critical."

— Steve Chase, Vice Chair of AI and Digital Innovation, KPMG U.S.

AI’s impact on business, economy and society

Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) of business leaders report that today they believe AI will have a moderate to significant impact by

Notably, those who believe it will have a significant impact leaped from 2% a year ago to 45% today.

What’s more, 99% expect it to be a positive impact, with 52% saying very positive – a big jump from just 3% a year ago.

When it comes to society-wide challenges with AI between now and 2030, leaders believe misuse of AI by bad actors, including cybersecurity, misinformation and election interference (50%), energy use and its impact on the environment (26%) and trust in the accuracy and fairness of AI outputs will prove the most difficult to navigate.

Business Growth & Investment 

The majority of respondents feel that AI will fundamentally change the nature of their business over the one-to-two-year horizon (56% in the next year and 67% in the next two years).

68% of leaders will invest between $50-$250 million in GenAI over the next 12 months, up from 45% in Q1 of 2024.

88% of respondents cite macroeconomic factors as the top factor of concern influencing AI strategies- 6 months ago, today and 6 months from now. 

AI Agents

Leaders expect to utilize these AI agent capabilities within the next 12 months

Leaders expect to utilize the capability for administrative duties (60%), call center tasks (54%) and to develop new business materials (53%), within the next 12 months.

Over half (51%) of organizations are exploring the use of AI agents and another 37% are piloting AI agents.

Most respondents plan to use AI agents as call center agents, to perform administrative tasks, recruit new employees or develop business materials, however, few have done so already. Currently, only 12% of respondents have deployed AI agents for use across their organizations.  

Workforce & Talent

The quality of organizational data is the biggest anticipated challenge to AI strategies in 2025 (85%), followed by data privacy and cybersecurity (71%), and employee adoption (46%).

Employee adoption is a top three challenge in 2025, and 81% of leaders are planning on including GenAI in their performance reviews. Only 19% are doing so already.

Counter to traditional bottom-up technology adoption patterns, leaders appear to be utilizing GenAI more than middle to entry level employees, suggesting the possibility of underreported usage and governance gaps across the enterprise.

AI Thought Leadership:

KPMG LLP Announces Strategic Investment in Agentic AI Startup Ema

AI fuels optimism for semiconductor leaders despite geopolitical headwinds

Navigating 2025's Landscape for Boards and Audit Committees

Partner Ecosystems Playing a Central Role in Business Growth

2024 KPMG American 

Worker Survey

KPMG Alliances:

KPMG Announces AI Integration into Global Smart Audit Platform

KPMG and Rhino.ai Announce Strategic Alliance

KPMG Upgrades GenAI 

Audit Assistant

KPMG Announces Google Cloud Center of Excellence

KPMG Launches "AI Impact Initiative” to Bring AI Technology to Non-Profits

KPMG Collaborates with Databricks to Drive Responsible AI

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Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates and related entities. 

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The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the interviewees and survey respondents and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of KPMG LLP.  

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© 2025 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved.The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organization.

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