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Boston Consulting Group · September 2025

The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025

Boston Consulting Group's The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025 (September 2025; n=1,250, fielded 2025 (dates not stated)) found that 60% of companies report little or no material value from AI despite investment.

Read the original report ↗Cite2 min read · Summary updated
Only 5% of companies get substantial value from AIPercent of companies by AI maturity group, 2025 (stagnating + emerging = the 60% 'laggards')
Stagnating
14%
Emerging
46%
Scaling
35%
Future-built
5%
Source: BCG, The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025, 2025, p. 4 (Exhibit 1).

Key findings

  1. 01
    Only 5% of companies are 'future-built,' achieving AI value at scale; 35% are scaling with some returns.
  2. 02
    Future-built firms report 1.7x revenue growth and 1.6x EBIT margins versus the 60% lagging.
  3. 03
    Agents accounted for 17% of total AI value in 2025, expected to reach 29% by 2028.

By the numbers

60%of companies report little or no material value from AI despite investment
5%of companies are 'future-built', achieving AI value at scale
17%of total AI value came from agents in 2025, expected to reach 29% by 2028
Future-built companies report five times the AI-driven revenue gain of laggardsRevenue increase from AI in areas where it is applied, percent of annual revenue, 2024 (self-reported)
Future-built
6.2%
Laggards
1.2%
Source: BCG, The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025, 2025, p. 6 (Exhibit 2).

What it means for you Draft

For executives at $10–100M companies

Nine in ten companies in this sample have $1B+ in revenue, so it says little directly about firms our size. The pattern is still useful: the few getting value set clear targets, focused on a handful of core workflows, and trained broadly. That is achievable at smaller scale without the budgets described here.

Limitations

Medium trust.Sizeable exec sample, method disclosed; 90% $1B+ firms, self-reported, maturity scoring proprietary. BCG sells AI transformation 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

Cite the original

Boston Consulting Group. "The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025." September 30, 2025. https://www.bcg.com/press/30september2025-ai-leaders-outpace-laggards-revenue-growth-cost-savings

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