A new study finds that companies deploying AI deeply are seeing 6 times the ROI of those still stuck in pilots, but only 17% of organizations have unlocked that level of return so far. The findings come from Zip’s “State of AI in Spend 2026” report, a global survey of 1,050 procurement, finance, IT, and operations leaders who manage spend at primarily large enterprises with over 1,000 employees. The report reveals a market splitting into two starkly different cohorts: “Builders,” who are deploying AI deeply and seeing real, measurable returns, and “Bystanders,” who have invested little into pilots or are seeing nothing for it.
“The Builders are showing everyone else the way,” said Nick Heinzmann, Head of Research at Zip. “Their edge isn’t bigger budgets, it’s treating AI as a team-wide transformation instead of another tool. That’s worth 6x the ROI and closing that gap is within reach for other companies willing to go deeper.”
The data shows deployment depth, not investment size, is what separates the two groups. Organizations deploying AI widely are 6 times more likely to report clear ROI than those still piloting or exploring (39% vs. 6.5%). But the pattern breaks down at the largest companies: organizations with 50,000 or more employees are the most likely to deploy AI widely (33%) and the least likely to show clear ROI (11%), proof that scale alone doesn’t translate into returns. The gap compounds from there: 71% of Builders are very confident in their ability to put AI to work over the next two to three years, compared with just 11% of Bystanders.
Key findings from Zip’s State of AI in Spend 2026 include:
- Builders are already living in the future. 55% run AI across most or all of their processes today (vs. just 4% of everyone else), and 79% expect deep transformation within five years (vs. 22% of everyone else).
- Depth beats budget, by 6x. Organizations deploying AI widely are 6 times more likely to report clear ROI than those still piloting or exploring (39% vs. 6.5%).
- AI use is now a daily habit. 62% of leaders say they use AI multiple times a day.
- Shadow AI is now mainstream – and IT leads it. 57% of respondents have used AI tools their employer hasn’t sanctioned, and 64% of IT respondents admit to it, the highest of any function surveyed. Counting those who’ve considered it, 68% are using or want to use unapproved AI.
- Headcount expectations are tilting down. 33% expect the team managing third-party spend to shrink in five years, against 26% who expect it to grow. Nearly half of organizations have already cut or consolidated roles because AI can do the work (29%) or plan to (19%).
- Productivity gains are real, but skill effects are uneven. 89% say AI is a net productivity gain even after accounting for time spent correcting its mistakes. But the erosion of some skills alongside gains in others concentrates below the executive level – 13% of managers report this mixed effect, versus 6% of executives.
- Builders and Bystanders are diverging fast. 84% of Builders use AI daily in their own work, and 71% are confident in deploying it further, compared with 11% of Bystanders.
The report argues that procurement is uniquely positioned to close the gap between AI spend and AI proof, provided it moves quickly. With 63% of respondents expecting procurement’s influence to grow over the next three to five years – a figure that jumps to 85% among Builders.
The study was conducted in partnership with research firm Prolific and is based on a survey of 1,050 procurement, finance, IT, and operations leaders who manage spend, and represent large organizations across North America, Europe, and the UK. The complete report is available at https://zip.com/resources/state-of-ai-in-spend-2026.
About the State of AI in Spend 2026
The State of AI in Spend 2026 is Zip’s annual research report on how organizations are adopting AI across procurement, finance, and business spend. It is based on a survey of 1,050 procurement, finance, IT, and operations leaders. The sample skews large: 74% work at enterprises with 1,000 or more employees, and 15% at organizations with 50,000 or more. Respondents span North America (46%), the UK and Europe (37%), and the rest of the world (17%).
About Zip
Zip is the leading AI platform for enterprise procurement. Through one platform, Zip unifies how companies purchase – replacing fragmented tools and manual processes with intelligent orchestration that procurement teams and employees actually want to use. Zip is the only procurement orchestration platform with full intake-to-pay capabilities and has the most widely deployed AI agents in enterprise procurement. Zip has delivered billions in customer savings and powers modern procurement for hundreds of global enterprises, including Anthropic, AMD, Discover, Dollar Tree, OpenAI, T-Mobile, and more. Visit www.zip.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260723090950/en/
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