What do businesses change when they adopt AI?
Training, workflows, technology purchases, and integration support.
Save PDF / Print opens your browser’s print options. Choose “Save as PDF” for a copy.
The answer
Among AI-using businesses, 15.4% reported developing new workflows and 15.0% reported training current staff. Purchasing cloud services or storage was reported by 8.5%, while 3.8% used vendors or consultants to install or integrate AI. A majority, 64.3%, reported no changes.
How to read this finding
These choices describe organizational actions associated with using AI, rather than the quality of implementation. The absence of a reported change does not tell us whether a business uses AI lightly, already had suitable systems, or overlooked an organizational need.
Detailed AI supplement: collected November 17, 2025–February 8, 2026; released April 23, 2026. Past-use questions look back six months unless otherwise specified; future questions look forward six months from the survey response.
What changes did the business make to use AI?
In the last six months, to use Artificial Intelligence (AI), what changes did this business make?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Trained current staff to use AI | 15.0 | 0.23 |
| Hired staff trained in AI | 1.3 | 0.05 |
| Purchased computing power or specialized equipment or software | 8.2 | 0.16 |
| Purchased cloud services or cloud storage | 8.5 | 0.18 |
| Changed data collection or data management practices | 6.8 | 0.16 |
| Developed new workflows | 15.4 | 0.18 |
| Used vendors or consulting services to install or integrate AI | 3.8 | 0.09 |
| Other | 4.8 | 0.13 |
| This business did not make any changes to use AI | 64.3 | 0.24 |
Multiple responses are possible; percentages need not add to 100.
A practical business conversation
The responses suggest areas to investigate for services: training, workflow design, data management, and integration. Build an offer around a verified need and a deliverable the customer can assess. These percentages are not a market-size estimate or a forecast of consultant revenue.
The adoption conversation includes people and processes alongside software.
What this evidence cannot establish
Multiple changes can be selected. The survey does not report budgets, providers, contract values, or whether a particular change produced a better business outcome.