Integrating AI into businesses found to be more complex than expected

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Although artificial intelligence (AI) is the talk of the town, integrating it into existing business processes is more difficult than expected, according to a study.

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The 500 corporate technology leaders surveyed now appear less convinced of the benefits of AI. Their confidence in the scalability of AI has fallen from 82% in 2024 to just 48% today, according to a global survey published on Tuesday by Adecco subsidiary Akkodis, based in Switzerland.

“What we are currently observing is not a slowdown in the use of AI, but a phase of increasing realism,” said Akkodis CEO Jo Debecker. AI is transforming the world of work, but it is not replacing it, he said.

Only 21% of technology leaders said AI had led to job cuts.

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Accordingly, the most influential technology trend for businesses in 2026 is “Agentic AI”, Debecker said. These are systems capable of planning tasks, making decisions and carrying them out independently.

This marks the transition from AI as a supportive tool to a technology that is actively involved in carrying out tasks, he said. The report goes on to say that this brings with it new requirements in terms of governance, responsibilities and organisational structures.

For instance, only 46% of the CTOs surveyed reported having established frameworks for responsible AI. Furthermore, only 44% believe that management teams possess sufficient AI expertise, and only 36% are satisfied with the workforce’s trust in AI. Furthermore, for the first time, innovation – rather than efficiency – is cited as the most important driver of digital investment.

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Translated from German, sub-edited by ts