Fast Company AI Innovation Survey 2026

AI Innovation Survey 2026

AI Innovation Excellence & Engagement Survey

Benchmarking AI adoption, leadership, and innovation across global organisations

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organisations compete, innovate, and operate. Yet for most leaders, the gap between ambition and tangible results remains wide. This survey is designed to cut through the noise.

Fast Company, a leading business media brand, is conducting this study — surveying C-suite executives and senior technology leaders to produce an authoritative, data-driven benchmark.

Section A — Screening & Demographics

Question 3 of 25

Where is your organization headquartered?

Select one only

⚠ Please select your region.

Section A — Screening & Demographics

Question 4 of 25

What is your organization's size by annual revenue?

Select one only

01Less than $50 million
02$50 million to $500 million
03$501 million to $1 billion
04$1 billion to $5 billion
05$5 billion to $10 billion
06$10 billion or more

⚠ Please select a revenue range.

Section A — Screening & Demographics

Question 5 of 25

What best describes your organization's funding / ownership status?

Select one only

01Nonprofit
02Self-funded / Bootstrapped
03Seed / Series A
04Series B / C
05Series D or higher
06Private equity-backed
07Public
98Other – please specify

⚠ Please select your ownership status.

Section B — AI Adoption & Maturity

Question 7 of 25

How would you characterize your organization's current level of AI adoption and value realization?

Select one only

01Generating significant measurable value from AI (10%+ to EBIT or equivalent)
02Moved beyond pilots and scaling AI with moderate returns
03Actively piloting AI use cases but not yet scaled significantly
04Early exploration / experimentation phase
05Have not yet begun implementing AI initiatives
06Tried AI but paused or stopped our initiatives

⚠ Please select one option.

Section B — AI Adoption & Maturity

Question 8 of 25

What percentage of your R&D, innovation, or technology budget is allocated to AI-related initiatives?

Select one only

⚠ Please select one option.

Section B — AI Adoption & Maturity

Question 9 of 25

Organizations are embedding AI throughout business functions. Which best describes how AI is integrated for your organization?

Select all that apply

01AI accelerates our research and development work
02AI helps us identify new market opportunities or customer insights
03AI enables us to test and iterate on ideas faster
04AI is used to generate new product or service concepts
05AI helps us analyze competitive landscape and innovation trends
06AI supports innovation talent recruitment and assessment
07AI is used to evaluate and prioritize innovation projects
96AI is not currently integrated into our innovation processes
98Other – please specify

⚠ Please select at least one option.

Section B — AI Adoption & Maturity

Question 10 of 25

Which departments inside your organization are showing measurable results from AI adoption?

Select all that apply

Q10a. Please provide 1–2 specific examples of measurable results from AI adoption in any department:

0/500 characters

⚠ Please select at least one option.

Section B — AI Adoption & Maturity

Question 13 of 25

How does your organization measure success and ROI from AI initiatives?

Select all that apply

01Revenue growth from AI-enabled products or services (YOY revenue growth)
02Cost reduction or operational efficiency gains (lower operational or overhead costs)
03Productivity improvements (time saved, faster processes)
04Customer satisfaction or engagement metrics (net promoter score)
05Innovation velocity (speed to market, number of new innovations)
06Competitive advantage or market share gains (product differentiation or customization)
07Employee satisfaction or retention (new hires; tenure)
96We have not yet established clear AI success metrics
98Other – please specify

⚠ Please select at least one option.

Section C — Competitive Positioning & AI Investment

Question 15 of 25

Compared to your competitors, how many years ahead or behind do you believe your organization is in AI adoption and maturity?

Select one only

01We are 3+ years ahead of our competitors
02We are 1–2 years ahead of our competitors
03We are roughly at the same level as our competitors
04We are 1–2 years behind our competitors
05We are 3+ years behind our competitors
99Unable to assess / Not sure

⚠ Please select one option.

Section C — Competitive Positioning & AI Investment

Question 16 of 25

Which statement best describes how your organization views the relationship between AI and innovation?

Select one only

01AI is central to our innovation strategy – we cannot innovate effectively without it
02AI is an important enabler of innovation but not the only driver
03AI is one of several technologies we are exploring for innovation
04AI is primarily a productivity / efficiency tool, not core to innovation
05We have not yet connected our AI and innovation strategies
98Other – please specify

⚠ Please select one option.

Section C — Competitive Positioning & AI Investment

Question 17 of 25

Looking ahead to the next 12–18 months, how do you expect your organization's AI investments to change?

Select one only

01Significantly increase (more than 25% growth)
02Moderately increase (11–25% growth)
03Slight increase (1–10% growth)
04Remain roughly the same
05Decrease
99Not sure

⚠ Please select one option.

Section C — Competitive Positioning & AI Investment

Question 18 of 25

What percentage of your workforce currently has access to generative AI tools for their work?

Select one only

010% – No employees have access
021–25% – Select teams or individuals only
0326–50% – Roughly half of employees
0451–75% – Majority of employees
0576–100% – Nearly all or all employees
99Not sure

⚠ Please select one option.

Section D — Leadership, Culture & Workforce

Question 19 of 25

How would you rate your C-suite's overall understanding and alignment on AI strategy and priorities?

Select one only

01Excellent – Strong understanding and complete alignment across the C-suite
02Good – Generally strong understanding with mostly aligned priorities
03Fair – Some gaps in understanding and partial alignment
04Poor – Significant gaps in understanding and misalignment
05Very Poor – Little understanding and no alignment
99Not sure

⚠ Please select one option.

Section D — Leadership, Culture & Workforce

Question 20 of 25

Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements about AI at your organization.

1 = Fully agree • 5 = Do not agree at all

Statement	1 Fully agree	2 Mostly agree	3 Neutral	4 Mostly disagree	5 Do not agree
Our workforce is successfully adopting AI tools
Our partner / vendor ecosystem is key to our success with AI innovation
Further investment in AI depends on our ability to demonstrate ROI
The future of our company depends on the success of AI innovation
We are confident about the direction of our AI innovation
We are keeping up with new AI technologies as they emerge

⚠ Please rate all 6 statements.

Section E — Production Deployment & Responsible AI

Question 21 of 25

Which statement best describes your organization's current state of deploying AI into production at scale?

Select one only

01Multiple AI systems in production that are mission-critical and used broadly
02At least one AI solution in production and actively expanding to more use cases
03Production pilots (limited rollout to one business unit or region), not enterprise scale
04Attempted production deployment but rolled back due to performance, risk, or adoption issues
05Mostly in proof-of-concept / prototype stage
99Not sure / Not applicable

⚠ Please select one option.

Section E — Production Deployment & Responsible AI

Question 22 of 25

Which Responsible AI guardrails are currently in place for AI systems in your organization?

Select all that apply

01AI governance policy / standards
02Security & privacy controls
03Model risk management
04Human-in-the-loop controls for high-impact decisions
05Auditability & traceability
06Content safety controls
07Third-party / vendor risk reviews for AI tools and foundation models
96We do not yet have formal Responsible AI guardrails
98Other – please specify

⚠ Please select at least one option.

Section E — Production Deployment & Responsible AI

Question 23 of 25

Which model best describes how your workforce collaborates with AI today?

Select one only

01AI as a personal assistant (individual productivity use)
02AI as a co-pilot in workflows (AI assists humans in task execution)
03Human + AI teams (defined roles where humans supervise, manage exceptions, and improve AI)
04Autonomous AI (AI executes most steps; humans intervene only for exceptions or compliance)
96We do not have a defined Human + AI collaboration model yet
98Other – please specify

⚠ Please select one option.

Section F — Open-End & Contact Details

Question 24 of 25

What is the single most important outcome you hope to achieve from AI over the next 2–3 years?

Maximum 300 characters. Required.

0/300 characters

⚠ Please enter your response.

Section F — Open-End & Contact Details

Question 25 of 25

Contact Details — Optional

Your participation is anonymous. If you are willing to be contacted by Fast Company, you may optionally provide your details below. All fields optional.

Full Name optional

Job Title optional

Organization optional

Email Address optional

Phone Number optional

Thank You for Your Interest

This survey is currently open to a select group of senior executives as part of a targeted research programme. We appreciate you taking the time.

Fast Company · 2026

Thank You for Participating

Thank you for participating. We’re also excited to announce a new Fast Company recognition program, Pacesetters, which will honor 40 next-generation, customer-focused, tech-forward leaders who are leveraging technologies such as generative AI, autonomous agents, and machine learning to improve internal operations and create innovative customer experiences.

Pacesetters honors customer-focused and tech-forward leaders.
Eligibility: Open to all customer-focused and tech-forward leaders anywhere in the world in any sector.
Application dates: Now through July 17
Cost to apply: None

You can submit an application or learn more about the program here, and if you have any questions, please email us at pacesetters@fastcompany.com.

Fast Company · 2026