The tech industry has played a highly visible role in the proliferation of transformative technologies such as generative AI (GenAI). As self-driving cars and large language models go mainstream, more and more tech companies are becoming household names. Even so, tech is struggling to keep pace with the very technologies it has introduced to the world.
Last July, ServiceNow released its inaugural Enterprise AI Maturity Index report. The goal of the study was to track how organizations are putting AI to work. At the time, organizations were just starting to develop strategies to deploy AI at scale. As a result, maturity was low across all industries—including technology, an industry voraciously pursuing AI use cases.
In partnership with NVIDIA, ServiceNow returned to the topic this year, surveying just under 4,500 executives worldwide—including 485 from technology companies—to understand how AI maturity has changed. Their answers power our second Enterprise AI Maturity Index, which measures each respondent’s progress on a 100-point scale.
To our surprise, we found that maturity scores this year are lower across the board compared to 2024 (dropping nine points for all respondents). Even more surprisingly, tech companies saw a drop too: The average maturity score for tech in our study also declined by 9 points, from 46 to 37. Though its maturity score did drop, tech performed best among all industries.
What’s the explanation for this decline? AI is evolving faster than humans can adapt, according to ServiceNow Chief Digital Information Officer Kellie Romack. In many cases, technology firms simply have not figured out how to make the most of AI as the technology continues to develop at breakneck speed, she says.
However, there is plenty of room for optimism. AI is already improving the way tech companies get work done. For instance, Chris Bedi, ServiceNow’s chief customer officer, points out that AI is greatly increasing the speed at which companies innovate. “This is especially important for the technology industry, where speed to value is a competitive advantage,” he says.
Notably, just under one-third of the technology companies in our survey are Pacesetters, a cohort that has seen higher margin growth from AI than competitors and leads the pack across our five pillars of AI maturity: AI strategy and leadership, workflow integration, talent and skills, data governance, and realizing value from AI investment.
Overall, Pacesetters saw 47% higher bottom-line growth from AI than non-Pacesetters last year (12.8% and 8.7%, respectively). Almost twice as many Pacesetters reported increased productivity than their competitors. Compared to their counterparts, Pacesetters also reported improved experiences, faster innovation, and better risk management from AI adoption.
Here are five best practices that set Pacesetter tech companies apart from the rest.
Fostering a culture of innovation is especially critical for technology companies, which must quickly adapt to change and stay ahead of disruptions. Pacesetters use AI to amplify their culture of innovation. They are more likely than others to encourage employees to use AI to look for creative ways to get their jobs done (80%, vs. 54% of others).
More than half of Pacesetters have launched innovation centers to spearhead AI transformation. For example, Hitachi’s Generative AI Center enables GenAI specialists to collaborate with experts from legal affairs, security, and other functions across the organization.
Pacesetters recognize that AI transformation is impossible across silos. That’s why nearly two-thirds of Pacesetters employ modern IT platforms with built-in AI capabilities to optimize workflows across their organizations, compared to just 44% of other organizations.
“Taking a platform approach provides a force multiplier from having your AI, data, and execution capability all in one place. This allows each use case to talk to the other use cases, thereby generating network effects,” says Bedi.
Pacesetters recognize that AI transformation is impossible across silos. That’s why nearly two-thirds of Pacesetters employ modern IT platforms with built-in AI capabilities to optimize workflows across their organizations, compared to just 44% of other organizations.
“Taking a platform approach provides a force multiplier from having your AI, data, and execution capability all in one place. This allows each use case to talk to the other use cases, thereby generating network effects,” says Bedi.
To execute on their AI strategy, organizations need the right skills and talent for the job. Close to 90% of Pacesetters run AI training programs and learning events to upskill employees, while 70% have identified AI champions to drive innovation. Pacesetters are particularly focused on developing data scientists (67%), machine learning engineers (60%), and experience developers (55%).
To nurture internal talent, IBM has established an academy to train employees and staff on a wide range of topics, from AI governance, investment strategies, model selection, and data-enabled decision-making to scaling AI solutions, optimizing workflows, and leveraging GenAI.
Pacesetters consider data to be a core strategic asset and understand the value of leveraging their data through AI. For example, Netflix uses AI and data to drive user engagement, increase watch time, personalize experiences, and optimize content delivery.
Since data is such a precious resource, tech companies are taking care to protect it—especially Pacesetters. Pacesetters are ahead of their competitors on this score. About seven in 10 Pacesetters have already worked to create AI-specific governance policies.
In tech, Pacesetters have embraced agentic AI, which reduces the need for human oversight to complete complex tasks. Over half of Pacesetters are currently using agentic AI, compared to 30% of others.
At ServiceNow, recruitment teams are using agentic AI to free up human talent for jobs that require empathy and creativity. “If we currently have 200 recruiters across ServiceNow, we might need 25 of them to manage the AI and another 50 to meet in person with candidates,” says Romack. “This frees up 125 people that the CHRO can redeploy to higher-value, strategic work.”
Get more insights in the complete AI Maturity in Technology report.
