The AI Pulse Survey 2025 serves as a global benchmark and roadmap for enterprises navigating their AI maturity journey.
Global consulting firm Protiviti has released its first-ever AI Pulse Survey 2025, offering an international snapshot of enterprise AI adoption. Surveying over 1,000 executives across IT, finance, operations, and compliance, including 176 C-suite leaders, the report reveals a significant maturity gap in AI readiness across various sectors.
Only 8% of organisations have reached the “Transformation” stage, where AI actively drives innovation and competitive advantage. In contrast, 51% remain in early stages, still piloting isolated initiatives or evaluating use cases.
Despite this, AI optimism is high. About 85% of respondents say their AI investments are meeting or exceeding expectations. Notably, nearly 1 in 4 companies report significantly higher-than-expected returns. Yet, 36% of early-stage adopters claim AI has underdelivered.
“The journey to AI success is strategic and ongoing,” said Sandeep Gupta, Managing Director, Protiviti India. “Aligning AI with business outcomes and continuous upskilling are key to bridging the strategy-execution gap.”
The survey highlights technology and BFSI sectors as global front-runners, with 52% of tech firms and 25% of financial services companies reporting strong AI ROI. In contrast, the manufacturing sector lags, with 37% still exploring AI possibilities.
Dhrubabrata Ghosh Dastidar, another Managing Director at Protiviti India, emphasized that “the early promise of AI will remain unrealized unless companies operationalize it at scale.”
Key challenges remain: 30% of respondents cite integration with legacy systems as a top hurdle. Early adopters struggle to identify impactful use cases, while mature organizations now face data governance and availability issues.
The survey also reveals a shift in success metrics: while early adopters focus on cost savings and productivity, mature firms prioritize customer experience, revenue growth, and innovation.
Protiviti advises organizations to pursue scalable, outcome-driven AI use cases, invest in strong data foundations, and embed AI into core business workflows for long-term impact.