What: BCG's Applied AI Index 2026, a survey of 1,330 executives, finds almost half of companies now generate measurable value from AI, with 7.5% of them (the "future-built") capturing most of it.

Why it is important: The report ties AI value to organisational change, not tools, with nearly three-quarters of future-built companies' top priorities sitting in people, organisation and processes. That matches the retail evidence in the collection that execution, not technology, is the barrier.

BCG's Applied AI Index 2026 surveyed 1,330 executives across more than 20 sectors. Almost half of companies now generate measurable value from AI, but most of it sits with a small group of "future-built" companies, which are 7.5% of the sample, up from 5% last year. They generate 2.4 times as much top-line growth as laggards and three times the EBITDA growth rate.
BCG attributes the gap to strategic clarity combined with applied AI. Future-built companies run a multiyear AI program, and 95% track value on the P&L or a proxy. Across the sample, AI spending has reached 3.3% of revenue, mostly outside IT budgets. Agentic AI's share of AI value rose from 17% to 22% and is projected to reach 39% by 2030, yet only 5% of companies have all six agent controls in place.
Future-built companies put nearly three-quarters of their top priorities into people, organisation and processes, ahead of technology and algorithms. Companies expect AI to cut the workforce by roughly 10% to 15%, concentrated in middle management and frontline leadership. Retail scores 49 out of 100 on AI maturity, and 48% of retailers are future-built or scaling.

IADS Notes: The BCG report's findings land on a retail sector that is adopting AI unevenly and struggling to turn it into returns. In the UK, wholesale and retail sits near the bottom of sector adoption rankings, with 15.7% of businesses using at least one AI technology (Retail Week, July 2026). In the U.S., AI investment among retail and fashion companies is rising, but adoption remains broad and shallow, and value depends on redesigning workflows, governance and data (WWD, July 2026). BCG's own CEO survey shows the same execution gap: nearly nine in ten CEOs report AI benefits in targeted areas, but only 14% have defined the financial impact of every AI project (BCG, July 2026). The agent control gap is already visible in retail operations, where agents able to issue refunds, adjust loyalty points or create purchase orders need a named business owner, scoped permissions and audit logs (RH-ISAC, August 2026). On the workforce side, AI initiatives most often stall in how middle managers translate mandates into daily practice (Harvard Business Review, September 2026).

THE APPLIED AI INDEX 2026 : The Formula for Agentic AI Value