📈McKinsey: Only 37% See Any EBIT Impact From AI in 2026
TL;DR
McKinsey surveyed 1,719 leaders for State of AI 2026 and found 37% attribute any EBIT impact to AI, flat year over year. Agent scaling nearly doubled at billion-dollar companies, but the earnings contribution has not followed.
McKinsey surveyed 1,719 leaders for State of AI 2026 and found 37% attribute any EBIT impact to AI, flat year over year. Agent scaling nearly doubled at billion-dollar companies, but the earnings contribution has not followed.
Key Points
1,719 professionals and business leaders surveyed; 37% report at least some EBIT impact from AI, roughly unchanged from 2025
'AI high performers' (5%+ of EBIT from AI) stayed flat at 6% of respondents
40% of respondents at companies above $1B revenue are scaling AI agents, up from 27% last year
Nearly a third skipped buying software in favor of building in-house with agentic coding tools
39% now expect AI-driven headcount cuts, up from 32% in 2025; 80% report individual productivity gains
Michael Chui, McKinsey QuantumBlack senior fellow: 'It's a journey, not a destination'
Why It Matters
Four years in, the productivity gain is individual and the P&L gain is not, which is exactly the pattern that precedes a budget reckoning in 2027 planning cycles.
Quick Facts
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this matter?
Four years in, the productivity gain is individual and the P&L gain is not, which is exactly the pattern that precedes a budget reckoning in 2027 planning cycles.
What happened?
McKinsey surveyed 1,719 leaders for State of AI 2026 and found 37% attribute any EBIT impact to AI, flat year over year. Agent scaling nearly doubled at billion-dollar companies, but the earnings contribution has not followed.
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