1、Why AI deployment is outpacing value realization and how organizations can close the gapThe AI value gapSTUDY#AIMATURITYCompanies across industries are facing a widening AI value gap:They are investing heavily in the technology,but financial returns are not keeping pace.This dynamic resembles a form
2、 of profitless prosperity in AI.Almost 90 percent of companies report that returns fall short of investment levels not because the technology is failing,but because organizations struggle to manage the transformation.AI is filtering down into production faster than companies can break even financial
3、ly,causing operating costs to rise long before meaningful value materializes.To understand what lies behind this value gap,Roland Bergers AI Lab surveyed more than 200 top executives in December 2025 across five major industries and five geographies,focusing on the adoption of generative AI applicat
4、ions and agentic AI systems.The results show that companies fall into four distinct groups,and only a small elite around ten percent consistently captures significant value.These leaders are not simply spending more or moving faster:They are operating differently,treating AI as an industrial capabil
5、ity to be engineered rather than a series of isolated initiatives.This enables them to align speed-to-production with speed-to-value,generating more than USD 10 million in annual AI impact far more often than the lowest-performing group.In this study,we diagnose the root causes of todays profitless
6、prosperity and show what organizations can do to close the AI value gap.Performance varies by geography and industry,with Japan leading globally,the DACH region(Germany,Austria and Switzerland)trailing somewhat behind and financial services struggling across markets.But whatever the starting point,t