KPMG survey finds leaders keep AI spending despite recession

KPMG has published findings from its first quarterly Global AI Pulse survey, which found that 74 per cent of global leaders would keep AI as a top investment priority even if a recession occurred in the next 12 months.

Senior executives across 20 countries said they planned to invest a weighted global average of $186 million in AI over the coming year. While 64 per cent of organisations already reported meaningful business value from AI, only a smaller group appeared to be moving from pilot projects to broader deployment of AI agents across business functions.

The survey covered 2,110 C-suite and senior business leaders at companies with annual revenue of at least $100 million. Three quarters of respondents represented businesses with revenue above $1 billion. The results point to a widening divide between companies scaling AI across operations and those still testing the technology in limited settings.

Value Gap

KPMG classified 11 per cent of respondents as "AI leaders" - organisations it described as AI-mature and scaling or operating agentic AI. Among this group, 82 per cent said AI was already delivering meaningful business value, compared with 62 per cent of other respondents.

The findings also linked workforce investment to stronger returns. Businesses confident in their talent pipeline were nearly four times more likely to report meaningful AI-driven value than those that were not, at 77 per cent versus 20 per cent.

That value was measured in areas including productivity, cost savings, revenue growth and decision-making. The survey suggested that stronger outcomes were driven less by experimentation itself and more by whether companies were changing workforce plans, governance and operating models alongside technology spending.

Use of AI agents is also becoming more widespread. Some 32 per cent of organisations were deploying and scaling AI agents, while another 27 per cent were orchestrating multiple agents across the business.

Deployment was strongest in technology and IT, where 66 per cent of respondents said agents were being used, followed by operations at 55 per cent and marketing and sales at 43 per cent. Among AI leaders, adoption was higher in each area: 75 per cent in IT, 64 per cent in operations and 49 per cent in marketing.

Risk Focus

Despite continued spending, risk remained a central concern. Nearly three in four leaders said they were somewhat or greatly concerned about data security, privacy and risk, making it the most frequently cited issue in the survey.

Confidence in managing those risks appeared to rise with organisational maturity. Just 20 per cent of companies still experimenting with AI said they felt confident about handling AI-related risk, compared with 49 per cent of AI leaders.

The results suggest governance frameworks are becoming more established as AI systems move into regular business use. As organisations mature, concerns shift from early-stage uncertainty to data quality, integration, governance demands, sustainability pressures and competition from AI-native rivals.

Regional differences also emerged. Planned AI spending was highest in ASPAC at $245 million, compared with $178 million in the Americas and $157 million in EMEA.

Scaling of AI agents was also strongest in ASPAC, where 49 per cent of respondents reported scaling agents, ahead of 46 per cent in the Americas and 42 per cent in EMEA. Leadership trust and buy-in were cited as a barrier by 24 per cent of respondents in both ASPAC and EMEA, compared with 17 per cent in the Americas.

Workforce Shift

Companies seeing stronger AI outcomes were placing greater emphasis on people and organisational change. AI leaders were more likely to hire for AI-specific roles, pursue acquihires for specialist talent and introduce AI-agent shadowing programmes.

Respondents also indicated a shift in what employers wanted from entry-level staff. Adaptability and continuous learning were cited by 52 per cent of leaders, while 49 per cent pointed to critical thinking and problem-solving, and 41 per cent to creative and strategic thinking.

Steve Chase, Global Head of AI and Digital Innovation at KPMG International, said: "The first Global AI Pulse results reinforce that spending more on AI is not the same as creating value. Leading organizations are moving beyond enablement, deploying AI agents to reimagine processes and reshape how decisions and work flow across the enterprise.

"But ultimately, there is no agentic future without trust and no trust without governance that keeps pace. The survey makes clear that sustained investment in people, training and change management is what allows organizations to scale AI responsibly and capture value."