Across industries, companies are increasingly adopting gen AI, particularly in functions where it has the potential to produce the most value. Gen AI is most used in marketing and sales among all industries surveyed, note Senior Partner Alexander Sukharevsky and coauthors. But tech leads the way in adopting gen AI across all functions. Product and service development is the second-most-common use, heavily adopted by professional services. On average, 71 percent of companies are using gen AI in at least one business function.
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A series of area bubbles show the percentage of respondents in various industries whose organizations regularly use gen AI in different business functions. The chart displays data for 8 industries: technology; professional services; advanced industries; media and telecom; consumer goods and retail; financial services; healthcare, pharma, and medical products; and energy and materials. An “overall” column provides an average across all industries.
Each bubble’s size corresponds to the percentage of respondents within that industry who reported regular gen AI use for a specific business function. For example, in the marketing and sales function, 55% of technology respondents reported regular gen AI use, compared with 49% in professional services, 48% in advanced industries, and so on, with an overall average of 42%. Other functions represented include product and/or service development (with a high of 41% in professional services and a low of 17% in the energy and materials sector), IT (ranging from 31% in technology to 16% in professional services), service operations (with the highest percentage reported at 37% in media and telecom and the lowest at 13% in the consumer goods and retail industry and in energy and materials), knowledge management (with the highest percentage of 34% reported in professional services and the lowest at 12% reported in consumer goods and retail), software engineering (36% in technology, dropping to 8% in consumer goods and retail), HR (ranging from 22% in media and telecom down to 8% in consumer goods and retail and in energy and materials), risk, legal, and compliance (21% in financial services, falling to 5% in healthcare, pharma, and medical products), strategy and corporate finance (21% in advanced industries, down to 5% in energy and materials), supply chain/inventory management (peaking at 15% in advanced industries, dropping to 2% for healthcare, pharma, and medical products), and manufacturing (with a range from 13% in advanced industries to 0% in financial services). A final row shows the percentage of respondents in each industry whose organization uses gen AI in at least 1 function. This ranges from 88% in technology to 59% in energy and materials. The overall average is 71%.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Footnote: For technology, n = 199; for professional services (includes business and legal services), n = 179; for advanced industries (includes advanced electronics, aerospace and defense, automotive and assembly, and semiconductors), n = 97; for media and telecom, n = 77; for consumer goods and retail, n = 111; for financial services, n = 193; for healthcare, pharma, and medical products, n = 113; and for energy and materials, n = 142.
Source: McKinsey Global Survey on the state of AI, 1,491 participants at all levels of the organization, July 16–31, 2024.
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To read the survey, see “The state of AI: How organizations are rewiring to capture value,” March 12, 2025.