AI Strategy Has Pivoted: From Cost Savings to Growth
Leaders have stopped treating AI as an efficiency project. New research from Thoughtworks shows 77% of executives now prioritize growth and innovation in their AI plans. That figure jumps to 92% in large enterprises.
The study, conducted by Censuswide, surveyed 3,500 IT and C-suite leaders and 3,502 consumers across the US, UK, Germany, India, Brazil, Singapore and Australia. It points to a hard shift in executive intent: build AI into the business model, not just the cost base.
Revenue: Confidence Is Rising, With Clear Regional Spread
Leadership confidence in top-line impact is growing. Twenty-seven percent of executives expect up to 10% revenue growth from AI in the next year. Nearly half expect more than 15% uplift within a decade.
Market outlook varies. India and Brazil are the most bullish, with 49.2% in each expecting more than 15% uplift within five years. Germany sits at 28.8%, and Australia at 20%. In the UK, three-quarters of leaders have already shifted AI focus from cost-cutting to growth, but overall sentiment looks mixed against the global average.
Agentic AI Moves Up the Priority List
Agentic AI is no longer a fringe topic. Thirty-five percent of leaders call it a top focus area. Interest is highest in India (48.6%), followed by Singapore (40.8%) and the UK (40%).
The US (28%), Brazil (28.2%), Germany (31%), and Australia (23.4%) track near or below the global average. The spread suggests uneven adoption and different levels of operational readiness.
Boardroom Shift: The CAIO Role Gains Teeth
More than half of companies now have a Chief AI Officer. Among organizations with the role, 72% say the CAIO controls budget and is accountable for ROI. Adoption is strongest in India and Brazil, and lower in Australia and Germany.
"This marks a structural shift in how organizations plan for growth," said Rachel Laycock, CTO at Thoughtworks. "Leaders are no longer asking how efficient they can become. They are asking how expansive they can be. The organizations moving fastest are integrating AI into the core of how they operate."
"The CAIO role is no longer experimental," added Shayan Mohanty, CAIO at Thoughtworks. "It sits at the center of strategy. The companies that are separating from the pack are the ones that make AI part of their foundation rather than a side project."
Consumers: Value Is Rising, Trust Still Wobbles
There's a gap between business ambition and public perception. Globally, 21% of consumers believe AI will have no personal impact in the next five years. That number jumps to 38% in the UK and 32% in the US.
Concerns differ by region. Fear of misinformation is highest in the US and UK. Demand for transparency is strongest in Brazil and India. At the same time, 72% of consumers say AI is already adding value at work or in life. One in four credits AI with helping them learn a new skill, and 13% say it enabled a new income stream.
Jobs and Skills: Augmentation Beats Replacement
Most leaders (84%) believe AI is augmenting talent, not replacing it. Evidence of net job creation is strongest in India (57.1%) and Brazil (50%), with measurable gains in the US (36%) and Australia (33%).
Across markets, 22% of organizations have created new AI-driven career paths that didn't exist before. Translation: the work is changing, and so should the org chart.
What This Means for Executives
- Set growth metrics now: Tie AI initiatives to revenue, expansion, and customer value-then fund against those targets.
- Give the CAIO real ownership: Budget control, ROI accountability, and a clear mandate across product, data, and operations.
- Pilot agentic AI with guardrails: Start where workflows are rules-based and high-frequency; measure cycle-time reduction and incremental revenue.
- Close the trust gap: Ship transparency by default (explanations, provenance, opt-outs). Address misinformation risks head-on in US/UK markets.
- Invest in skills that compound: Stand up AI academies, pair humans with systems, and create new role families (AI product ops, prompt QA, AI risk).
- Build for scale early: Common data contracts, model observability, and a platform team that treats AI capabilities as reusable services.
- Adopt a portfolio view: Mix quick wins (assistants, automation) with longer-bet growth plays (new services, new pricing models).
- Govern with speed: Lightweight review for low-risk use cases; stricter gates for customer-facing agents and regulated workflows.
Signals to Watch
- Agentic AI moving from pilots to revenue-owned KPIs.
- CAIOs reporting alongside CFO/COO with formal P&L responsibility.
- Customer-facing disclosures becoming a buying criterion in the US and UK.
- Job postings for AI product operations, AI safety, and human-in-the-loop orchestration.
Where to Go Next
If your organization is shifting from experimentation to scale, build capability while you execute. For structured upskilling by role, see Courses by Job. For leaders building automation-led growth, explore the AI Automation Certification.
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