FEATURE
The latest Applied AI Index 2026 from Boston Consulting Group( BCG) offers important insights into this transition. Based on a survey of 1,330 C-suite executives and senior leaders across more than 20 industries, the research finds that almost half of companies are now generating measurable value from AI.
The findings challenge the perception that enterprise AI has yet to justify its investment. However, they also reveal that achieving meaningful returns requires considerably more than deploying new technologies.
“ The perception is that AI isn’ t delivering,” said Nicolas De Bellefonds, the firm’ s global AI leader, and a coauthor of the report.“ Our data says the picture is more nuanced: nearly half of companies are already creating real value from it, while many others are still struggling to translate investment into impact. The challenge now is both to realize that value at scale and to govern what companies deploy.”
The widening gap between AI leaders and laggards
BCG categorises organisations according to their AI maturity, ranging from stagnating and emerging businesses to scaling and future-built enterprises.
The research shows a significant improvement in global AI maturity. The proportion of stagnating companies has declined from 14 % in 2025 to just 4.5 % in 2026, while 47 % are classified as emerging and another 41 % are actively scaling AI.
The most advanced group, described as future-built companies, now accounts for 7.5 % of organisations surveyed, up from 5 % a year earlier.
Although relatively small, this group is generating substantially stronger business results.
Future-built companies recorded 2.4 times the revenue growth and 2.3 times the total shareholder return of laggards. Their EBITDA growth was also approximately three times as high.
Importantly, meaningful value is no longer limited to this elite group. Scaling organisations, representing 41 % of respondents, are also beginning to translate AI investments into measurable outcomes.
Together, these findings suggest that AI is moving beyond the early adoption phase towards broader enterprise implementation.
For African business leaders, the implications are significant. Organisations do not necessarily need to be technology pioneers to generate value.
However, they must develop the capabilities to integrate AI into business processes, establish clear ownership and measure outcomes consistently.
The study is global rather than Africa-specific, so its findings should be viewed as a benchmark rather than a direct assessment of African enterprise maturity.
Why strategic clarity matters
One of the report’ s most striking findings concerns the relationship between AI maturity, strategic direction and financial performance.
BCG found that organisations combining strong strategic clarity with mature applied AI capabilities generated AI value equivalent to 4.5 % of revenue, compared with just 0.9 % among those lacking both.
That represents a fivefold difference.
Strategic clarity means identifying where AI can create the greatest competitive advantage and concentrating investment on those opportunities rather than spreading resources across numerous disconnected initiatives.
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