Sponsored by
Foundry
Topics
Artificial Intelligence
Source
Foundry
Whitepaper
Sponsored by
Foundry

From hype to reality: AI adoption gains traction in 2025

Foundry’s second annual AI Priorities Study, which surveyed 902 global respondents about their AI strategies and plans, laid to rest the notion that this  technology is a passing fad. Download the report to gain an understanding of AI strategies, budgets, and challenges of IT buyers. 

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From hype to reality: AI adoption gains traction in 2025
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Written by
Foundry
Published on
March 18, 2025

The 2025 AI Priorities Survey by Foundry explores the evolving role of AI in business, showing that AI is no longer viewed as a novelty but an integral part of modern technology. While early experimentation has stabilized, AI adoption continues to grow, particularly in customer service, productivity enhancement, and automation. Security and governance challenges remain, but companies are actively investing in AI-driven solutions and increasing their dedicated AI budgets. The report highlights an increasing reliance on AI for improving business processes while balancing concerns around workforce impact and ethical governance.

Key Insights:

AI Adoption Trends

  • AI is moving from experimentation to structured implementation, with 41% of companies researching AI and 15% deploying AI at an enterprise scale.
  • Customer service (25%), content generation (23%), and NLP (21%) are the most implemented AI use cases.
  • High-tech and financial services industries lead in AI integration, with Latin America surpassing other regions in enterprise-scale AI adoption (26%).

Business Priorities & Spending

  • AI investment is driven by productivity (68%), customer service improvement (55%), and innovation (54%).
  • 86% of ITDMs expect AI spending to increase or stay the same, with larger enterprises and financial services firms leading in AI budget allocation.
  • Industry-specific AI solutions are gaining traction, with 74% of businesses preferring AI tailored to their sector.

Challenges & Future Outlook

  • Lack of in-house AI expertise (37%) and governance concerns (47%) are top barriers to adoption.
  • Security, privacy, and ethical AI usage remain critical concerns, with companies focusing on explainable AI (61%) and AI automation (60%).
  • AI adoption is expanding vendor relationships, with 44% of businesses engaging new AI vendors and 61% planning to add more AI partners in 2025.

As AI integration deepens, companies must balance innovation with governance, security, and workforce adaptation to fully realize AI’s transformative potential.