84% see productivity gains, but few trust autonomy

Artificial intelligence is helping businesses improve productivity, but most companies remain reluctant to let AI systems make decisions without human oversight, according to a global study by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The TCS Enterprise AI Study, released on 4 November, found that 84 percent of surveyed executives ranked productivity improvement as the leading benefit of AI investments.

However, only 10 percent reported allowing AI agents to make decisions without human approval across multiple business functions, while just 9 percent said their systems could securely coordinate workflows across enterprise applications.

Security, risk management and governance emerged as the leading considerations in AI deployment, ahead of cost, speed and ease of implementation.

Amit Kapur, TCS chief AI and services transformation officer, said companies were making progress in adopting AI but remained cautious about granting the technology greater autonomy.

“What seems to be holding organisations back — and rightly so — are concerns around security, governance, and resilience,” Kapur said.

The study also found that 90 percent of respondents considered the ability to use different AI models important, although only 7 percent had organization-wide plans for switching providers to maintain business continuity.

Meanwhile, 39 percent were still evaluating whether AI investments justified their computing costs, while 44 percent said critical business knowledge remained scattered across documents or held by employees.

Uncertainty about AI’s impact on employment also increased. The proportion of executives saying it was too early to determine the technology’s effect on jobs rose from 4 percent in 2024 to 19 percent in 2026.

The study surveyed 1,333 senior business and technology leaders across 25 countries and 12 industries.