Only half of frontline teams actually use AI — while 75% of executives make it a top priority

According to BCG, only half of frontline employees actually use AI day to day — a “silicon ceiling” that caps real usage. Among leaders, 75% rank AI as a top-three priority, yet only a quarter report meaningful value from it. The gap lies neither in ambition nor in the tool, but in daily adoption: a system the frontline works around produces no value, only a cost line.

For a small or mid-sized company, the rule is simple: track real usage on the ground, not the number of licenses deployed, and make it the first success metric of any AI project.

Source: BCG, “From Potential to Profit: Closing the AI Impact Gap” (AI Radar), January 2025.