Marketing and sales functions are the most common entry point for artificial intelligence inside large organizations, according to McKinsey's global survey on AI conducted by the firm's QuantumBlack unit. The survey found that 78 percent of respondents say their organization uses AI in at least one business function, up from 72 percent in an earlier survey wave and 55 percent the year before that. Respondents most often reported AI use in IT and in marketing and sales, followed by service operations.

Generative AI specifically follows the same pattern. Seventy-one percent of respondents say their organization regularly uses generative AI in at least one business function, and marketing and sales was the function where that use was most frequently reported, ahead of product development, service operations and software engineering. Organizations are also spreading AI across more of the business at once, with the average company now using it in three functions rather than one.

Despite that spread, enterprise-wide financial impact remains limited. More than 80 percent of respondents said their organization has not yet seen a tangible effect on companywide earnings before interest and taxes from generative AI, while 17 percent reported that 5 percent or more of their EBIT over the past year is attributable to the technology. McKinsey's researchers found that redesigning workflows around AI, rather than layering AI tools onto existing processes, had the strongest statistical relationship with realized financial impact.

The findings suggest marketing organizations are ahead of most departments in AI experimentation but still early in converting that use into measurable business results.

Source: McKinsey and Company - https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-how-organizations-are-rewiring-to-capture-value