Pulse of Change (July 2026)
Accenture's Pulse of Change (July 2026) (July 2026; n=6,000 (3,000 C-suite + 3,000 employees), fielded Apr–Jun 2026) found that 23% of C-suite report widespread, sustained business value from AI, down from 32% earlier in 2026.
32%
23%
Key findings
- 0182% of C-suite leaders are increasing AI investment; 49% of companies are piloting or deploying AI agents.
- 0281% of employees say AI tools increased their productivity; 71% say job satisfaction rose since AI tools arrived.
- 0378% of leaders expect roles to change within 12 months; 57% of employees say their roles already changed.
By the numbers
23%of C-suite report widespread, sustained business value from AI, down from 32% earlier in 2026
82%of C-suite leaders are increasing AI investment
55%are confident their agentic AI initiatives will deliver board-reportable outcomes within the next year
What it means for you Draft
For executives at $10–100M companies
Even very large companies that are spending more report less sustained value than six months earlier, which is a useful reality check on vendor claims. The sample is all $500M+ firms, so treat the numbers as direction, not benchmark. The employee data suggests people will use AI if given it; the harder work is deciding which processes change.
Limitations
Medium trust.Large paired exec/employee sample, method summarized; only $500M+ firms. Accenture is a major seller of AI implementation services.
About the publisher: Sells AI strategy and implementation consulting.
The headline figure measures the “Pays off” stage of adoption (measurable profit impact).Why adoption numbers disagree
Accenture. "Pulse of Change (July 2026)." July 26, 2026. https://www.accenture.com/en/insights/pulse-of-change
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