Adoption of generative AI across industries and functions worldwide 2024

Generative AI adoption has surged across industries, with the technology sector leading the charge at an impressive 88 percent usage rate across functions in 2024. This rapid integration of AI technologies is reshaping business operations, particularly in marketing and sales, where AI has found widespread application as a creative assistance tool. However, this swift adoption has not come without challenges, as concerns about regulatory compliance have grown in tandem with the increased usage.

Varied adoption rates across sectors

While the technology industry stands at the forefront of generative AI adoption, other sectors are not far behind. Professional services, advanced industries, and media and telecom all report adoption rates of around 80 percent across functions. Interestingly, in the tech, media, and telecom industry, IT departments lead in generative AI application usage at 34 percent, followed by product development at 17 percent. This trend differs in the energy, resource, and industrial sector, where operations take the lead at 23 percent, with IT following at 17 percent.

Evolving landscape of AI implementation

As organizations increasingly integrate generative AI, the landscape of implementation is evolving. Automation and agentic AI have emerged as the most intriguing technological developments for organizations in 2024. This shift is accompanied by a notable increase in technical skills related to AI, indicating broader usage. However, the rise in regulatory concerns suggests that governments and authorities are stepping up their oversight of the industry. This dual trend of increased adoption and heightened regulatory scrutiny underscores the complex environment in which AI technologies are being deployed and developed.