AI remains a top priority for business leaders worldwide in 2025, with a strong focus on reaping tangible results from their AI initiatives. This year, one in three companies globally is planning to allocate over $25 million to AI.
For the second year, Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) AI Radar global survey has captured the mood of business executives regarding AI. The findings, released today, reveal both optimism and significant challenges in realising AI’s full potential. In the latest edition of the report, titled From Potential to Profit: Closing the AI Impact Gap, BCG surveyed 1803 C-level executives across 19 markets and 12 industries, including South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco.
“In my discussions with CEOs, it’s clear they are prioritising AI to drive productivity,” said BCG CEO Christoph Schweizer. “Our latest survey uncovers a crucial challenge: while 75% of executives rank AI as a top three strategic priority, only a quarter report meaningful value from their AI initiatives.
“Leading AI adopters have cracked the code on achieving impact by focusing on a targeted set of AI initiatives, scaling them rapidly, transforming core processes, upskilling their teams, and systematically measuring operational and financial returns. Many companies have an immense opportunity to close the gap between their ambitions and reality.”
How leading companies stay ahead of the pack
Leading companies allocate more than 80% of their AI investments to reshaping core functions and inventing new offerings. In comparison, other companies focus 56% of their AI investments on smaller-scale, productivity-focused initiatives. Leaders also set clear goals and track top- and bottom-line impact. However, 60% of companies surveyed fail to define and monitor any financial KPIs related to AI value creation.
In Africa, for instance, 35% of companies do not define and monitor any financial KPIs related to AI value creation. Sixty-eight per cent of these companies lack maturity in effective AI organisational change management, and 68% have indicated challenges in hiring AI talent and upskilling their existing workforce.
Leading companies focus on depth over breadth, prioritising an average of 3.5 use cases, compared with 6.1 use cases for other companies. These companies anticipate generating 2.1 times greater ROI on their AI initiatives than their peers.
Autonomous agents: A key consideration
Agents are autonomous AI systems that achieve goals using tools, analysing data, and working across systems—with minimal human input. While still in the early days of deployment, 67% of executives consider autonomous agents as part of their AI transformation, with optimism around agents consistent across geographies.
At least 65% of African companies surveyed have shown optimism about the role of AI agents moving into 2025, either exploring AI agents or viewing them as playing a central or complementing role in their AI transformation.
African executives see talent and AI as complementary across all regions: 19% see AI taking the lead, but humans keeping oversight;66% see AI and humans collaborating with complementary roles; and 15% prioritise human talent and using AI only when necessary.
Only 7% anticipate a decrease in headcount
Sixty-eight per cent of executives globally anticipate maintaining their current workforce size, focusing on enhanced productivity and upskilling existing talent to meet AI demands. That contrasts with the fact that fewer than one-third of companies have upskilled even a quarter of their workforce—an improvement from last year, but still far from the level needed to help employees feel secure in adapting to a technology often perceived as a threat to jobs.
The report shows that only 6% of executives in Africa expect AI to lead to job losses. Interestingly, 37% of these executives say that they see significant value in AI. This is supported by the finding that 86% of African companies are planning to increase tech investments in 2025, pushing for a more disruptive usage of AI, and prioritising investments in higher-impact areas.
Asia-Pacific (34%) and Africa (31%) lead in AI/GenAI upskilling, while the Middle East (27%) and South America (20%) are falling behind.
Meanwhile, 17% of executives globally expect AI to reshape the workforce by introducing new roles to replace redundant ones. Eight per cent foresee AI driving an increase in headcount, while only 7% predict a reduction in workforce size due to AI automation.
“Successful leaders adopt the 10-20-70 framework to unlock AI’s business potential, allocating 70% of their efforts to transforming people, processes, and culture; 20% to data and technology; and just 10% to algorithms,” said Sylvain Duranton, global leader of BCG X. “However, two-thirds of companies face significant challenges in reimagining workflows, driving cultural change, recruiting talent, and upskilling their workforce. Ensuring the success of AI initiatives requires disciplined execution, a relentless focus on value creation, and a workforce ready to adapt and thrive in a rapidly evolving environment.”
Risks to navigate
Executives identified data privacy and security (66%), lack of control or understanding of AI decisions (48%), and regulatory challenges and compliance (44%) as the top three AI risks to navigate. Cybersecurity is a critical concern, with 76% of executives acknowledging that their AI cybersecurity measurements require further improvements.
At least 64% of African executives surveyed have raised data privacy and security risks, 37% have highlighted the lack of control or understanding of AI decisions, and 46% are concerned with regulatory and compliance challenges.
Interestingly, the report reveals that 60% of African companies surveyed are starting to build their geopolitical muscle, citing regulations as a factor in their AI adoption pace. This is the highest across the globe, followed by North America (58%), Europe (56%), the Middle East (54%), APAC (52%) and South America (45%).
Companies across the region are not doing enough to address the environmental impact of AI. The report shows that 73% of companies surveyed on the continent do not prioritise energy-efficient AI solutions as part of their vendor selection. This is against a global average of 78%, with other regions doing much less – South America at 86%, North America at 83%, the Middle East at 80%, Europe at 77% and Asia-Pacific at 75%.
The report is a good indicator of what needs to be done as a matter of priority and where AI should be headed across the region’s many economies and sectors. It shows that 72% of African companies rank AI and/or GenAI as a top three strategic priority against a 75% global average. Additionally, 83% of African companies recognise that their AI cybersecurity measures need further improvements.
Download the publication at www.bcg.com/ja-jp/publications/2025/closing-the-ai-impact-gap.
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