78% of companies use AI. Almost none of them feel it in their results.
McKinsey just published one of the most honest things about AI adoption in years. Nearly 8 in 10 companies report using AI, and nearly the same number report no significant impact on earnings. They called it the "gen AI paradox." Companies are everywhere on AI. And almost nowhere on results. Here's what the data actually shows (McKinsey State of AI, 2025): → 88% of companies deploy AI in at least one function → Only 6% of companies see more than 5% of EBIT directly attributed to AI → Nearly two-thirds have not begun scaling AI across the enterprise → Fewer than 30% of CEOs personally sponsor their company's AI agenda The technology is not the problem. The leadership approach is. The real diagnosis Most companies bolted AI onto existing processes. Copilots on top of old workflows. Chatbots next to manual work. Assistant tools that assist nothing at scale. McKinsey calls this "horizontal" adoption. Wide, visible, and nearly impossible to connect to reven...