Enterprises are fast becoming true believers in the bottom-line impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
As they adopt the technology, more increasingly are seeing a “significant shift” in immediate impact. Nearly three-fourths (71%) of 800 AI decision-makers expect fundamental disruption or widespread transformation from GenAI this year, compared with 56% in 2024, according to a Futurum Research report released this week.
What is more, those expecting “Widespread Operational & Functional Transformation” from GenAI catapulted to 51% from 40% year ago.
“The dramatic shift from moderate to transformational impact expectations reflects organizations’ growing understanding of generative AI’s true potential,” said Nick Patience, vice president and AI Platforms Practice Lead at Futurum, and the report’s author. “Over half of decision-makers now foresee widespread operational transformation, with an additional 20% anticipating fundamental business model disruption. This indicates a shift beyond the initial hype, moving into a phase of strategic implementation and tangible business transformation.”
The report’s findings suggest organizations are quickly moving past the experimental phase of GenAI adoption and are now preparing for substantial operational and strategic changes following some wariness and upskilling.
Responses were sliced into five general categories assessing the impact of GenAI over the next three to five years.
From those two categories, two schools of thought emerged: While more decision makers are enthusiastic about GenAI’s possibilities, the naysayers have appreciably come around to the upside of GenAI. Those who dismissed the technology’s impact as moderate to nearly non-existent declined to 29% in 2025 from 43% in 2024.
“What’s particularly striking is the speed of this sentiment shift,” Patience said. “In just one year, we’ve seen organizations dramatically recalibrate their expectations upward. This isn’t just optimism – it’s based on actual deployment experiences and a clearer view of what’s possible when generative AI is applied strategically across the enterprise.”
The results underscore the growth and acceptance of AI as more organizations deploy the technology, learn how to maximize its use, and plan to expand the use of GenAI and agentic AI, industry experts say.
