First international firm-level data reveals AI's limited current impact

The study reveals four key facts about firm-level AI adoption and impact.

Approximately 70 percent of firms actively use AI, with a higher prevalence among younger and more productive companies.

While over two-thirds of top executives regularly engage with AI, their average weekly use is only 1.5 hours, and a quarter report no AI use.

Firms indicate little impact from AI over the past three years, with more than 80 percent reporting no effect on either employment or productivity.

Executives anticipate substantial impacts over the next three years, forecasting a 1.4 percent boost in productivity, a 0.8 percent increase in output, and a 0.7 percent reduction in employment.

This contrasts with individual employees who predict a 0.5 percent increase in employment, highlighting a notable gap in expectations regarding AI's future job creation.

The research addresses a significant gap in high-quality, representative international data on firm-level AI use, particularly from senior executives.

Four research teams from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Bank of England, Deutsche Bundesbank, and Macquarie University collaborated to field parallel surveys.

These surveys targeted almost 6,000 CFOs, CEOs, and senior executives across stratified firm samples in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia between November 2025 and January 2026.

The consistent methodology and timing across countries aimed to collect robust data to guide future research and policy discussions on AI's broader economic impact.