Half of the companies McKinsey classifies as AI "high performers," meaning those attributing at least 5% of EBIT to AI use, expect the technology to bring transformative change to their business within the next three years, according to McKinsey's Global Survey on the State of AI. That share is more than three and a half times higher than among all other surveyed companies, where only 14% expect transformative change and a plurality, 48%, expect merely incremental change.

The gap illustrates a widening split in how organizations experience AI's impact. Nearly eight in ten organizations report using generative AI in at least one business function, and 62% say they are experimenting with agentic AI, according to McKinsey's broader survey data. Yet 60% of respondents say they have not seen enterprise-wide profit impact from their AI programs, even as adoption climbs.

McKinsey researchers attribute the difference to how companies measure and manage AI investment rather than to model capability. In a related analysis, the firm recommends organizations track AI value across five layers, ranging from technical performance and user adoption up through operational KPIs, strategic outcomes, and financial impact, including cost-to-serve reduction, revenue uplift, margin expansion, and total cost of ownership. Companies that define expected value before deployment and track results against a living business case are more likely to move projects from pilot to enterprise scale, the firm found.

The survey drew responses from 1,993 participants across organizational levels, conducted June 25 through July 29, 2025, with AI high performers representing 109 of those respondents.

Source: McKinsey & Company - https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/week-in-charts/ai-transformers-versus-tinkerers