According to Forbes, their 2025 AI Survey of 1,075 C-suite leaders from companies with over $1 billion in annual revenue reveals that high-growth companies achieving 10% or more annual revenue growth share five distinctive traits in their AI strategies. The research, conducted in August and September, shows that 62% of these high-growth companies expect significant ROI from AI investments within two years, compared to just 49% overall. Regional adoption gaps are substantial, with 69% of North American companies using AI enterprise-wide versus 32% in Asia-Pacific, while technology (76%) and automotive (73%) industries lead energy and manufacturing (both 42%) in adoption rates. The findings highlight how strategic approaches to AI are creating competitive separation in the global marketplace.
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Beyond Technology to Business Transformation
What the survey data suggests but doesn’t explicitly state is that successful companies aren’t just implementing AI—they’re fundamentally redesigning their operating models around it. The 13 percentage point gap in ROI expectations between high-growth and average companies indicates a deeper strategic divide. Companies seeing AI as merely a cost-saving tool are missing the bigger picture: AI’s real value lies in creating new revenue streams, enhancing customer experiences, and enabling business models that weren’t previously possible. This explains why technology and automotive sectors, which face constant disruption and have experience with digital transformation, are leading adoption while more traditional industries lag behind.
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Why Geography Determines AI Success
The dramatic regional differences—69% enterprise adoption in North America versus 32% in Asia-Pacific—reflect more than just technological maturity. These gaps stem from complex factors including regulatory environments, talent availability, and cultural attitudes toward innovation. North America’s lead can be attributed to its concentration of AI research institutions, venture capital funding, and a business culture that rewards rapid experimentation. Meanwhile, the 9% versus 20% difference in M&A approaches to skills gaps between North America and Latin America suggests fundamentally different strategic philosophies about building versus buying capabilities, with implications for long-term competitive advantage and ROI sustainability.
The Hidden Challenge Behind the Numbers
While the survey highlights regional differences in addressing AI talent shortages, it doesn’t fully capture the strategic risk this creates. The fact that one in five CHROs in Latin America are considering M&A for talent acquisition indicates a potential desperation move rather than a sustainable strategy. Companies relying on acquisitions to fill skills gaps face integration challenges, cultural mismatches, and premium pricing in a competitive talent market. More fundamentally, this approach suggests these organizations haven’t developed the internal capabilities to grow their own AI talent—a critical weakness that will become more pronounced as AI technologies continue evolving rapidly.
The Widening Competitive Divide
The data points toward an accelerating separation between AI leaders and laggards that will reshape global business landscapes. Companies in the Asia-Pacific region and traditional manufacturing sectors face particular urgency, as their current adoption rates put them at risk of being permanently disadvantaged. The 62% of high-growth companies expecting substantial ROI suggests they’re already seeing concrete results from their investments, creating a virtuous cycle where success funds further innovation. Meanwhile, companies in the EMEA region at 49% adoption find themselves in a precarious middle ground—not far enough behind to feel immediate crisis, but not sufficiently advanced to capture the full benefits of AI-driven transformation.
What Separates Winners from the Pack
The five traits of high-growth companies likely include elements that go beyond technology implementation to encompass leadership commitment, organizational redesign, and strategic patience. Unlike the broader Forbes survey population, these companies probably view AI as a core competency rather than a supporting function, invest in continuous learning rather than one-time implementations, and measure success through business outcomes rather than technical metrics. As AI becomes increasingly democratized, the competitive advantage will shift from who has access to the technology to who can best integrate it into their business DNA—making organizational culture and change management capabilities the ultimate differentiators in the AI era.
