Study reveals that the top 15% of companies are 2.5x more likely to achieve over 10% revenue growth and more than 3x more likely to reach profit margins of 15% or higher through AI deployments
Dubai, UAE, December 16, 2025 — NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business, and IT services, today released the 2026 Global AI Report: A Playbook for AI Leaders. The report is based on the company’s latest benchmark research and reveals how “AI leaders” are separating themselves from competitors through clear strategy and disciplined execution.
The analysis is drawn from a survey of 2,567 senior executives across 35 countries and 15 industries. Only 15% of participating organizations qualified as “AI leaders,” defined by clear AI strategies, mature operating models, and focused execution. These leaders report significantly higher revenue growth and profit margins compared to other organizations.
“AI accountability now belongs in the boardroom and demands an enterprise-wide agenda,” said Yutaka Sasaki, President and CEO, NTT DATA Group. “Our research shows that a small group of AI leaders is already using AI to differentiate, grow, and reinvent how humans and machines create value together.”
Strategy
Leaders treat AI as a core growth engine and rewire their strategy accordingly.
• Strategic alignment and speed: AI leaders win by tightly aligning AI with business strategy and converting focus and speed into outsized financial returns.
• Focused end-to-end approach: Top performers prioritize high-value domains that unlock disproportionate economic value and redesign workflows end to end.
• Flywheel effect: These front-runners create a cycle where initial investments fuel early success, driving reinvestment for further growth.
• Core reinvention: Growth leaders rebuild core applications with embedded AI rather than limiting efforts to surface-level add-ons.
Execution
AI leaders differentiate through resilient foundations, empowered talent, hardwired adoption, strong governance, and expert partners.
• Secure at scale: AI leaders build scalable, secure technology stacks, localize or relocate AI infrastructure for private or sovereign AI, and invest to remove infrastructure bottlenecks.
• Expert-first AI: These front-runners use AI to amplify the impact of experienced, highly skilled employees rather than replace them.
• Change that sticks: Top performers treat adoption as a company-wide change program, supported by effective change management to reduce resistance.
• Governed for scale: Leading organizations centralize AI governance, formalize enterprise-wide oversight, and empower dedicated Chief AI Officers (CAIOs) to manage risk and align innovation.
• Partner-powered growth: Best-in-class players rely on strategic external collaborators and embrace outcome-based gain-sharing models to accelerate AI value creation.
“Once AI and business strategies are aligned, the most effective move is to select one or two domains that deliver disproportionate value and redesign them end to end with AI,” said Abhijit Dubey, CEO and CAIO, NTT DATA, Inc. “Supporting this focused approach with strong governance, modern infrastructure, and trusted partners is how today’s AI leaders are turning pilots into profits and pulling ahead of the market.”
