KPMG International’s Global Tech Report 2026 Highlights the Intelligence Age, Scalable AI Value and Adaptive Enterprise Strategies

Amid accelerating technological disruption, rising complexity and geopolitical uncertainty, KPMG International’s Global Tech Report 2026 – Leading in the Intelligence Age: Excelling today, shaping tomorrow highlights how organisations today are moving from AI experimentation to scaled deployment while redefining value, productivity and resilience.

Drawing on insights from 2,500 technology executives across 27 countries—covering EMEA (43 per cent), ASPAC (29 per cent) and the Americas (28 per cent)—and across eight industries including automotive, consumer and retail, energy, financial services, government, healthcare and life sciences, industrial manufacturing, and technology and telecommunications, the report reveals strong ambition to scale AI, automation and emerging technologies, alongside persistent execution challenges related to skills, legacy infrastructure, governance and ROI.

The findings point to a decisive shift from isolated AI pilots to enterprise‑wide deployment across workflows, products and operating models. While ambition remains high, value creation in the Intelligence Age will be defined by execution discipline, adaptability and responsible scale.

Globally, rapid innovation cycles, talent gaps, technical debt and rising security and sustainability pressures persist. Although AI maturity is expected to increase sharply, relatively few organisations have fully scaled their capabilities—highlighting a widening ambition‑execution gap.

In India, as digitalisation accelerates across manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and consumer sectors, focus is moving from adoption speed to ROI, robust data foundations, future‑ready talent and trusted AI by design.

Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner & National Leader, Clients and Markets, KPMG in India said “Seen through an enterprise transformation lens, the findings make it clear that AI success is now an execution challenge rather than a technology one. Organisations delivering real value are simplifying portfolios, addressing technical debt and aligning accountability to outcomes. For India, where digital ambition and scale are key strengths, this creates an opportunity to build AI‑enabled operating models that are resilient, value‑led and trust‑by‑design, moving decisively from experimentation to execution that drives measurable productivity gains and ROI”

Purushothman KG, Partner and Head of AI and Technology Transformation, KPMG in India said “For India, these findings signal a clear inflection point. As organisations across sectors accelerate digitalisation, the real differentiator will no longer be experimentation or speed of adoption, but the discipline to scale AI and digital capabilities in a way that delivers measurable value. Indian enterprises that move beyond pilots, strengthen data and technology foundations, invest in future‑ready skills, and embed trust, governance and responsibility into AI by design will be better positioned to close the ambition‑execution gap. Those that execute with clarity and consistency will not only improve ROI, but also enhance resilience and competitiveness on the global stage”

Key highlights from the Global Tech Report 2026 include:

While most organizations (74 per cent) report that their AI use cases are providing business value, only 24 per cent say they are achieving ROI across multiple use cases, a 7-percentage point decline from our last survey

While 80 per cent of C-suite leaders report having a clear organizational-wide AI strategy, only 68 per cent of senior tech managers agree. This suggests there are gaps in alignment and understanding that could hinder execution.

55 per cent of tech executives struggle to demonstrate and communicate the value of AI to stakeholders and shareholders

Only 11 per cent of organisations report having fully scaled and continuously evolving technology capabilities today, despite 50 per cent expecting to reach top maturity by 2026

Findings indicate significant optimism on AI-  In our survey, 69 per cent of early adopters and 65 per cent of slow followers expect to scale AI into production and achieve ROI across multiple use cases by 2026

Addressing technical debt remains critical, with 63 per cent of executives saying remediation costs are holding back new initiatives

High‑performing organisations achieve 4.5x ROI on digital investments, driven by strong governance, centralized decision‑making and disciplined execution

88 per cent say they are already investing in building agentic AI into their systems, and 92 per cent report that managing AI agents will become an important skill within the next five years

Strong emphasis on data security, forecasting, resilience and workforce upskilling as foundations for adaptability

Collaboration and ecosystem partnerships are accelerating, with 90 per cent planning to expand technology partnerships—while tightening governance and data sovereignty

Together, these insights point to organizations at a pivotal inflection point. Those that move beyond experimentation to scaled, value‑focused AI adoption—supported by adaptable strategies, strong data and security foundations, trusted governance and continuous learning—will be best positioned to thrive in the Intelligence Age.