Fueled by the “AI revolution,” executives are under pressure to make their organizations ready for a digital future. Investors, customers, and employees - everyone expects major leaps forward. As our current study of more than 200 companies shows, 54 percent anticipate clearly positive EBIT effects from further AI implementation.
Two thirds of companies have increased their digitalization budgets for 2026, by an average of 30 percent. AI technologies and tools now account for one third of total digitalization budgets.
Disappointment Is All but Guaranteed
In many cases, it is questionable whether this activism and expenditure will pay off. This is not only because top management is currently too focused on AI, as seven out of ten respondents in our study complain, nor because aggressively advertised applications often fail to deliver what providers promise, as three quarters of respondents state.
Rather, almost all digitalization initiatives show that the wheat quickly separates from the chaff when it comes to holistic approaches, clean system integration, and the consistent determination of benefits and value contribution.
Most Companies Are Flying Blind Strategically
As our latest analysis reveals, only every second company has a holistic digitalization strategy that sets out specific and overarching goals. The other half either has only partial strategies, works with area-specific goals only, or operates with no strategy at all.
However, the “dark figure” is likely to be much higher, as the study shows a strong discrepancy between the statements of board members and those of operational management levels. For example, 75 percent of the board members surveyed say that there is a comprehensive, concrete strategy. At the operating management level (C-1), this figure is only 30 percent. Desire and reality, appearance and substance – there is a huge gap between the two.