A select group of global corporations are transforming Artificial Intelligence from an experimental technology into a core financial growth engine. According to the 2026 Global AI Report: A Playbook for AI Leaders, released by NTT DATA, these top-performing companies are achieving significantly higher revenue growth and profit margins than their competitors by mastering both strategic alignment and focused execution.
The research, which surveyed 2,567 senior executives across 35 countries and 15 industries, defined only 15% of participating organizations as AI Leaders. These leaders are characterized by having clear AI strategies, mature operating models, and razor-sharp execution. Their performance benchmarks are striking: they are 2.5 times more likely to post over 10% revenue growth and over 3 times more likely to achieve 15% or higher profit margins from their AI deployments compared to other organizations.
The central finding of the report is that AI success is no longer about technology adoption; it is about enterprise-wide agenda setting driven from the highest levels of leadership.
“AI accountability now belongs in the boardroom and demands an enterprise-wide agenda,” said Yutaka Sasaki, President and CEO, NTT DATA Group. “Our research shows that a small group of AI leaders already are using AI to differentiate, grow and reinvent how humans and machines create value together.”
The report emphasizes that AI Leaders treat AI as a core growth engine, not just a set of tools. Their winning strategy is built on four core pillars. They achieve strategic alignment and speed by tightly integrating AI into their business strategy, which translates strategic focus directly into outsized financial returns. They employ a focused end-to-end approach, concentrating on high-value domains that unlock disproportionate economic value and redesigning workflows completely. This creates a powerful flywheel effect, where early success fuels reinvestment, driving further growth. Critically, these leaders prioritize core reinvention, choosing to rebuild essential applications with embedded AI rather than limiting their efforts to surface-level add-ons.
Success is also defined by meticulous execution. AI leaders build a resilient foundation that allows them to scale securely, often localizing or relocating their AI infrastructure to achieve private or sovereign AI capabilities while eliminating infrastructure bottlenecks.
A key differentiator is the concept of Expert-first AI, where front-runners use AI to amplify the impact of experienced, highly skilled employees rather than treating AI as a replacement tool. This strategy supports organizational change that sticks, as top performers treat adoption as a company-wide change program with constructive change management to reduce resistance.
Governance is centralized and formalized, empowering dedicated Chief AI Officers (CAIOs) to manage risk while ensuring innovation is aligned with business goals. Furthermore, these best-in-class players understand the value of external collaboration, leaning on strategic partners and remaining open to outcome-based gain-sharing models that accelerate AI value delivery.
Abhijit Dubey, CEO and CAIO, NTT DATA, Inc., summarized the execution mandate: “Once AI and business strategies are aligned, the single most effective move is to pick one or two domains that deliver disproportionate value and redesign them end-to-end with AI.” He concluded that supporting this focused approach with strong governance, modern infrastructure, and trusted partners is how “today’s AI leaders are turning pilots into profits and pulling ahead of the market.”
The 2026 Global AI Report serves as a comprehensive playbook for organizations aiming to move from AI experimentation to sustainable, profitable value creation, setting the stage for the next phase of global digital transformation.
