Low AI fluency, uneven adoption, and marginal productivity gains are limiting enterprise-scale impact

According to Forrester's (NASDAQ:FORR) latest report, Accelerate Your AI Voyage, most enterprises are struggling to turn growing AI adoption and investment into measurable business impact. One of the key factors holding businesses back is low artificial intelligence quotient (AIQ) — Forrester's measure of AI aptitude — with many employees lacking a clear understanding of how to use AI. Other barriers include an overemphasis on productivity-focused use cases, difficulty measuring impact, and siloed adoption within individual functions.

While these challenges can leave firms frozen in doubt or indecision, the wait-and-see approach to AI adoption is no longer viable. To unlock AI's full potential, organizations need to focus on four key areas: Define the business outcomes and success metrics for what they want AI to achieve; identify specific use cases for AI deployment aligned to those business outcomes; establish a structured runway to plan, test, and strategically time the deployment of AI applications; and scale AI applications using the power of cloud, frontier models, and embedded agents.

Based on a survey of 1,500 AI decision-makers and conversations with firms that are accelerating their AI efforts, the report outlines the following critical traits required to create and maintain AI momentum:

Adopting a customer-led approach. While it is easy to focus AI efforts on internal use cases, high AI adopters are more likely to focus on customer experience (52% versus 44% for low adopters) and marketing optimization (48% versus 30%) — helping to build trust and drive value.
Ensuring that the AI vision is CEO-driven. High adopters report that CEOs are more likely to be driving their AI business strategy (25%) than any other executive. They are best positioned to set an AI vision that is anchored in customer impact and competitive differentiation while driving alignment across the organization.
Investing in data and platforms. Realizing AI's value requires foundational fixes in data governance and infrastructure. Almost half (47%) of high AI adopters work with consulting partners to prepare their data and systems, compared to just 26% of low adopters.
Developing talent with high AIQ. High AI adopters are more likely to single out AI skill requirements in their job descriptions (47% versus 33% for low adopters) and require applicants to demonstrate those AI skills (54% versus 29%). Embedding AI skills through hiring, upskilling, and structured learning pathways strengthens organizational readiness, builds trust, and supports workforce transition.

"AI urgency is at an all-time high, but too many businesses are paralyzed by a lack of understanding and siloed adoption," said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. "CEOs have a narrow opportunity to shift the narrative. There are leaders and there are followers. Businesses that prioritize customer-led AI experiences will ultimately build trust and long-term value. The window to outpace competitors is open, and those who act decisively will be the best positioned to succeed."

Resources:

Read about Forrester's "Accelerate Your AI Voyage" report in this blog.
Register to attend Forrester's B2B Summit North America in Phoenix from April 26–29 here.
Learn how Forrester can help firms turn AI into action here.

About Forrester

Forrester (NASDAQ:FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We empower leaders in technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, revenue, and product functions to make confident decisions in an AI-driven world and accelerate growth through customer obsession. Our unique research and continuous guidance model helps executives and their teams achieve their initiatives and outcomes faster and with confidence. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.

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Shweta Agarwal

sagarwal@forrester.com

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