Overview
- Stanford’s 2025 AI Index reports 78% of organizations now use AI in operations, up from 55% a year earlier, underscoring a rapid shift from pilots to production.
- Economist Impact/Kinaxis finds 97% of companies are experimenting yet only 22% have a formal strategy and 20% make real-time decisions, with Europe and Asia Pacific moving faster than North America.
- Industrial deployments are delivering measurable results, including WaterForce cutting energy costs by up to 50% and Nescafé’s Toluca plant avoiding five unplanned stoppages worth about $2 million.
- The workforce is unprepared for the pace of change: Randstad says just 5% of Argentine workers received employer AI training despite high demand, Fundar/CEPE shows uneven adoption by age and income, and a Mondragon study warns Gipuzkoa could lose up to 10,000 net jobs without reskilling even as more than 30,000 new roles could emerge.
- Regulators are confronting AI‑washing with U.S. SEC and FTC actions and EU AI Act rules after cases like Delphia’s $225,000 fine, while experts urge ethical, sustainable, human‑in‑the‑loop approaches and researchers note consumer distrust of impersonal machine‑generated content.