McKinsey: 80% Say AI Lifts Their Productivity, 37% Report a Positive EBIT Impact
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37%
of respondents report a positive EBIT impact from AI, while 80% say it has improved their individual productivity, according to McKinsey's 2026 state of AI survey.
Six per cent qualify as AI high performers. McKinsey says nearly three-quarters of those high performers substantially redesigned workflows, compared with about a quarter of other organisations. In a separate readiness survey, just 27% of leaders say their organisation is ready for an agentic future.
The week in three lines
- McKinsey's 2026 survey shows the gap between personal and enterprise AI value: 80% say AI has improved their individual productivity, 37% report positive EBIT impact and 6% qualify as high performers. Nearly three-quarters of those high performers substantially redesigned workflows, against about a quarter of other organisations.
- Three Forrester analyses point to the same limit from different sides. Product data built for filters limits what shopping agents can answer, SAP process context the customer does not control limits what agents can safely do, and AI suppliers that share dependencies limit resilience.
- Forrester recommends mining site search, customer service, reviews, returns and store staff for "will it", "can it" and "does it" questions, defining which details matter by category and testing assistants with those questions. Scoring product data by the share of those questions it can answer is an inference from that advice, not Forrester's metric.
The papers
McKinsey: the AI value gap is an organisation design problem
Drawing on its 2026 state of AI survey, McKinsey reports that 80% of respondents say AI has improved their individual productivity, 37% see positive EBIT impact and 6% qualify as high performers. It argues the missing step is redesigning work and teams around outcomes, with humans and agents mapped together.
McKinsey · Value gapMcKinsey: faster steps in contact centres and coding are no template for AI value
McKinsey says AI adoption is flat at 89% of organisations while high performers hold at 6%. Among early-stage adopters, those that redesigned workflows were 5.3 times as likely to report enterprise-level value (32% versus 6%).
Forrester · PlaybookProduct data built for filters cannot answer the questions AI shopping agents ask
Forrester argues that product data built for filters cannot answer the questions shoppers and AI agents now ask, such as whether it will fit under an airline seat when the listing lacks packed depth. It cites 89% of consumers who have used answer engines for retail using them to research products or services.
Forrester · GovernanceFour decisions to make before SAP's agents start executing work in your systems
Forrester sets out four decisions for CIOs before SAP's agents execute work, including who bears the failure risk once pricing is tied partly to agent actions. It treats lock-in through learned process knowledge as an architectural risk, not a proven problem.
Forrester · AI riskSeveral AI suppliers add little resilience if they share what sits underneath
Forrester argues that several AI suppliers give little resilience if they share infrastructure, testing or data. It cites cyber evaluations in which, by the testing firm Irregular's account, a scenario unintentionally allowed internet access and some agents attacked real systems.
Also published
- Accenture launches Advanced Intelligence Group — Accenture, 5 Oct 2026
A service-line launch citing Accenture's own survey: roughly 25% of C-suite leaders report broad, lasting value from AI and 15% plan end-to-end redesign with AI at the core within 12 months.
- E-commerce helps Amazon and Walmart pull ahead in US retail — Forrester, 6 Oct 2026
Amazon and Walmart took almost 70% of sales growth among the top 10 US retailers. Retail context, with AI as a supporting theme.
- Global manufacturing's software-led reset — Forrester, 7 Oct 2026
Estimates the global manufacturing workforce shrank by about 25 million over the decade and says risk concerns limit appetite for autonomous agents. Manufacturing-specific.
What nobody is saying
McKinsey puts the gap between 89% adoption and 6% high performance down to redesign, and acknowledges that consulting firms often earn fees by optimising what already exists. In the same week, Accenture's own survey says only 15% of leaders plan end-to-end redesign with AI at the core within 12 months, in an announcement launching a service group of more than 2,000 specialists. The two firms agree on the diagnosis, yet neither offers outcome data separating redesign work from optimisation work, and McKinsey's 32% versus 6% comes from survey respondents and measures no intervention. Anyone buying redesign help should ask for outcome data from past redesigns.
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