What Is Holding Up AI Adoption for Businesses? New EPAM Study Reveals Key Findings

EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM), a leading digital transformation and services and product engineering company, today announced the release of its AI research report, “From Hype to Impact: How Enterprises Can Unlock Real Business Value with AI.” The report, based on a survey of 7,300 participants across nine countries and eight industries, examines the current state of AI adoption, challenges and opportunities for businesses looking to generate tangible business value from AI investments.

The study reveals a notable disconnect between perception and reality in enterprise AI adoption among respondents from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore and Argentina. Nearly half (49%) of respondents rated their companies as “advanced” in AI implementation, with 5% identifying as “disruptors,” 32% as “competent” and 14% as “beginners.” However, only 26% of those who self-identified as advanced companies and disruptors have successfully delivered AI use cases to market.

“Following the release of ChatGPT and throughout 2023 and 2024, we witnessed companies across industries experiment with AI and develop proofs of concept, primarily targeting immediate gains in productivity improvements and operational efficiencies,” said Elaina Shekhter, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, EPAM. “This new research clearly shows that we’re now entering a new phase where success depends on identifying high-value use cases and prioritizing them strategically to achieve broad organizational impact. Enterprises that can effectively align their talent, data and technology around these priority use cases will be the ones that actually deploy AI to scale and capture business value from their AI investments in 2025 and beyond.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Acceleration of AI investments: Companies plan to increase their AI spending by 14% year-over-year in 2025, signalling a continued commitment to AI-driven growth.
• Scaling AI remains a challenge: While 30% of technology-advanced companies have successfully implemented AI at scale, many organizations struggle to bridge the gap between experimentation and enterprise-wide deployment.
• AI’s direct impact on business: Disruptors attribute 53% of their expected 2025 profits to AI investments, which demonstrates a tangible financial impact for the market leaders.
• Governance and security trail AI growth: Businesses anticipate a minimum of 18 months to implement effective AI governance models, highlighting the complexity of aligning AI with the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.
• AI talent remains a priority: 43% of all companies surveyed plan to hire AI-related roles throughout 2025, with machine learning engineers and AI researchers being the most in-demand positions.

“Improved productivity and operational efficiency are universal goals, but true transformation lies in bridging the gap between tech teams and the business,” said Dmitry Tovpeko, VP, Engineering, EPAM. “As AI reshapes the enterprise, developers are evolving from task-oriented users to strategic experts, responsibly harnessing AI for end-to-end scenarios. Success hinges not on tech stacks or cloud infrastructure, but on aligning tech teams with business objectives to solve real-world customer problems.”

To realize the full potential of AI, the report highlights the importance of aligning people, data and technology to unlock real business value and identifies four critical areas for the successful adoption of AI: 

• People, processes and culture: Effective AI implementation requires strong executive leadership that clearly articulates priorities and focus areas. In fact, the data reveals that 65% of disruptors understand the necessary skills for AI adoption.
• Business and technology modernization: While 31% of executives see outdated technology as a barrier to AI adoption, the real challenge is the lack of alignment between business and technical teams. Once a clear organizational purpose is established and communicated, engineering teams can then map out a modernization strategy.
• Security: Security remains a universal priority for senior executives and engineering teams, particularly regarding data protection, data quality and cloud security, with 35% of businesses saying their top challenge to achieving modernization is their lack of sophisticated security programs. 
• Governance and responsible AI: While 75% of advanced companies claim to have established clear AI strategies, only 4% of disruptors say they have developed comprehensive governance frameworks even with the understanding that effective governance is typically 18 months away.

According to Forrester, in its Predictions 2025: Artificial Intelligence report, 2025 will bring a renewed focus on strategy, deepened partnerships between business and IT, a pivot back to predictive AI, and new technologies and architectures as enterprises govern data and AI together. 

“In 2023, the race to harness AI saw many experimenting, but a select group of pioneers emerged, transforming bold ideas into scalable realities,” said Nir Kaldero, Chief AI Officer, EPAM NEORIS. “These leaders see challenges as opportunities, regulations as non-negotiables and uncharted territories as spaces for innovation. The next phase of AI is not just experimentation but deployment at scale—focusing on enterprise-wide, high-impact use cases while continuing the effort to align people and culture, data and cloud and new processes to unlock true exponential business value.”

The report concludes that organizations must now align AI with their business objectives rather than adapting business goals to fit AI capabilities. Success in this new phase requires companies to evolve beyond implementing AI solely for productivity gains and operational efficiencies. To gain a competitive advantage, forward-thinking enterprises must leverage AI strategically across their entire value chain to drive revenue growth and enhance customer experience. 

The full report includes detailed insights and practical recommendations for enterprises at different stages of their AI journey. To read the full 2025 Artificial Intelligence Report, visit: www.epam.com/ai-report-2025.