Global Pulse on GenAI & AI Agents — Driving the Future of Work with GenAI and AI Agents | by Sriram Subramanian | Jan, 2025

Generative AI (GenAI) adoption continues to surge around the globe — but what does that really look like at the organizational level? Our interim global survey results (from 271 organizations), paint a vivid picture of rising investments, expanding use cases, and a future heavily influenced by AI-driven agents. Below, we’ve compiled the most compelling insights, along with a call to action for those who want to help shape the full story.

Please note that the results are interim, with the complete results available after the survey is complete. Contact sales if you are interested in purchasing or sponsoring the report.

It’s clear from the data that GenAI is no longer a passing fad. A notable 63% of organizations have already integrated — or are in the process of integrating — GenAI into their business functions, while the remaining 37% plan to do so in the next two years. This rapid acceleration is particularly evident in:

• Financial Services and Healthcare: Both sectors report a high adoption rate, with 79% of surveyed organizations already using GenAI. From automating customer interactions to speeding up underwriting processes, these industries see tangible ROIs in efficiency and accuracy.
• Employee Size: Larger enterprises (5,000+ employees) overwhelmingly embrace GenAI, showing a 96% integration rate. Smaller firms (50–249 employees) face more resource constraints but are still on the path to AI adoption, albeit at a lower 20% integration rate so far.

When it comes to the platforms driving GenAI, the survey underscores the popularity of OpenAI (GPT models directly or thought Microsoft Azure OpenAI) and Google (Gemini/ Bard) models. In fact, ~70% of the respondents say they use or plan to use at least one of these solutions. Though the majority of companies are using single large language models (LLMs) per use case, about 42% of respondents indicated using multiple LLMs per use case. This strategy aimed at diversifying capabilities and reducing vendor lock-in is fueled by different priorities:

1. Scalability — Large enterprises need robust solutions that can handle massive data.
2. Specialization — Different LLMs excel at different tasks (e.g., code generation vs. sentiment analysis).
3. Cost Optimization — Balancing the cost of high-end models against free or lower-tier alternatives.

GenAI’s presence is felt most strongly in:

• Customer Support (70%): Chatbots and virtual assistants that learn and adapt in real time are revolutionizing customer service. Financial Services (92% in some sub-segments) and Software & Information Services (80%+) lead here due to the massive volume of customer queries they handle.
• Data Analysis & Insights (70%): Predictive analytics remain crucial for many industries — telecommunications stands out, with a majority using AI to sift through customer and network data for actionable insights.
• Content Generation (59%): Marketing and content teams leverage GenAI to produce on-brand copy, streamline drafting processes, and ideate more efficiently.

Beyond these top three, the data suggests a growing desire to expand GenAI into marketing, HR/recruiting, legal, and corporate strategy over the next 12 months.

Of the organizations that have started using GenAI, most of the respondents indicated having at least one GenAI-driven use case in production. Certain verticals, like telecommunications and financial services, are at the forefront, reporting near-universal production deployments. However, challenges remain:

• Skills Gap: Even as more user-friendly AI platforms emerge, the scramble for specialized AI talent — prompt engineers, ML developers, and data scientists — continues.
• Data Quality & Integration: Questions persist around best practices for safely funneling proprietary or customer data into LLMs.
• Cost & ROI: Smaller firms find it harder to commit extensive resources without clear, rapid ROI. Meanwhile, larger enterprises weigh the cost of advanced AI models against longer-term payoffs in efficiency and innovation.

Other challenges include ethical challenges, scale, and lack of clarity in use cases.

Organizations are opening their wallets to fund GenAI initiatives:

• Over 50% of those who are investing dedicate between $100,000 and $1 million. Financial Services leads in higher-ticket investments, with some organizations willing to go beyond $1 million in pursuit of a first-mover advantage.
• Larger companies (5,000+ employees) show a greater appetite for big allocations, with 39% investing over $1,000,000.
• 32% have yet to invest any budget into GenAI this year, often due to caution or budget constraints, especially among smaller or resource-limited firms.

Looking toward 2025, many enterprises appear ready to double down, anticipating that challenges with GenAI adoption being mitigated through bridging skill gaps, better understanding of data integration, and ROI.

Interest in AI Agents — autonomous software that can complete tasks with minimal human intervention — is also on the rise. According to our interim data:

• Over 30% of organizations currently use AI Agents, piloting solutions in customer service, data processing, and workflow automation.
• Industries with high routine or high-volume tasks (e.g., retail, software services) show marked enthusiasm for AI Agents, expecting them to handle more complex tasks in the next 5–10 years.
• Concerns revolve around job displacement, ethical usage, and the evolving nature of workforce skills. Yet investment plans for 2025 suggest a continuing upward trend.

Our interim results confirm that GenAI and AI Agents are no longer just tech curiosities — they are strategic pillars reshaping business processes and competitive landscapes. However, these insights are just the beginning. The global survey is still open, and your voice matters in giving a fuller view of how these technologies are shaping different sectors, regions, and organizational sizes.

How You Can Contribute:

1. Share Your Experiences: Provide input on your GenAI adoption timeline, areas of deployment, and the challenges you face.
2. Highlight Emerging Use Cases: Are you exploring novel LLM applications? Are AI Agents making headway in your industry?
3. Reveal Real-World ROI: Let us know what results you are seeing — or expect to see — from implementing GenAI solutions.

By participating, you will help deepen the narrative around global adoption of GenAI/ AI Agents, investment strategies, and future outlook. Plus, you will gain priority access to our upcoming full report, packed with in-depth analyses, cross-industry benchmarks, and best practices.

Please contact us to express your interest in participation. If you are interested in purchasing or sponsoring the survey, please contact sales.

Make your voice heard!

We’re at a tipping point in how businesses operate, how customers are served, and how employees collaborate with GenAI/ AI Agents. From transforming help desks and data analysis to creating entirely new products and services, the leadership imperative around GenAI cannot be ignored.

Whether you’re in financial services, healthcare, retail, or beyond, now is the time to embrace these technologies and steer the conversation toward ethical, inclusive, and sustainable GenAI/ AI Agents adoption