Grant Thornton finds integrated AI drives growth

Grant Thornton says companies that fully integrate artificial intelligence into day-to-day operations are reporting revenue gains far more often than companies still running pilots. (grantthornton.com) In Grant Thornton’s 2026 AI Impact Survey, 58% of organizations with fully integrated AI said they had AI-driven revenue growth, compared with 15% of organizations still piloting AI. The firm described that spread as nearly four times more likely. (grantthornton.com) The survey was based on live interviews with 950 business leaders across 10 industries conducted from February 13 to March 18, 2026. Grant Thornton published the findings on April 13, 2026. (grantthornton.com 1) (grantthornton.com 2) The report centers on what Grant Thornton calls an “AI proof gap”: companies are deploying AI systems but cannot clearly show how those systems make decisions, who owns the outcomes, or whether controls would stand up to review. The firm said 78% of executives lacked strong confidence they could pass an independent AI governance audit within 90 days. (grantthornton.com 1) (grantthornton.com 2) Grant Thornton said governance and compliance failures were the leading cause of AI underperformance, cited by 46% of executives. Even so, only 11% said risk and compliance was the function needing the most focus to meet their AI ambitions. (grantthornton.com) The workforce numbers were also thin. Grant Thornton said only 12% of senior leaders believed their workforce was truly AI-ready. (grantthornton.com) The industry breakouts show the same pattern playing out unevenly. In technology, 81% of firms said they were scaling agentic AI across multiple business units or fully integrating it into workflows, while 48% said governance or compliance barriers had contributed to AI underperformance. (grantthornton.com) In banking, Grant Thornton said only 18% of executives were sure they could pass an independent audit of AI controls, even though half said governance and compliance were already limiting AI performance. (grantthornton.com) The report’s through line is that AI spending is no longer the main dividing line. Grant Thornton’s data says the separation is between companies that can measure, document and defend AI decisions and companies that cannot. (grantthornton.com)