This Is How Senior Leaders Are Using AI at Work, According to a Google Survey Google asked senior leaders if they had seen a return on their AI investments. Here's what they said.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- A new Google Cloud report surveyed 3,500 senior leaders at companies across the world to find a clear use case for AI.
- The majority of leaders (55%) said they use AI for marketing, and it's made a considerable impact at their companies.
- AI was also popular in security, where 49% of senior leaders said it had made an impact.
AI is making a mark in marketing, security, and customer experience, according to a new Google Cloud report, which surveyed 3,500 senior leaders at global companies to find a clear use case for AI — and figure out if leaders had seen a return on their AI investments.
Each leader surveyed works for a business that earns at least $10 million in annual revenue, has at least 100 employees, and leverages generative AI. The majority of respondents (55%) indicated that AI was a useful marketing tool, helping them with tasks like data analysis, content generation, and editing. Nearly 60% of executives at media and entertainment firms indicated that AI had a positive impact on their marketing efforts.
Security was also an area where AI was useful to executives, according to the report. AI security tools combat cyberthreats by automatically detecting intruders and analyzing incidents. Almost half of executives (49%) said in the survey that AI helped with cybersecurity. Of that group, 53% stated that AI had diminished the number of security incidents reported in their organizations.
Executives also found that AI improved customer experience. Close to 62% of leaders said that AI had enabled them to deliver better customer service, an increase from 59% of respondents who answered the same survey in 2024. Three in four leaders said customer satisfaction improved as a result of AI this year.
The survey also sought to uncover whether AI had delivered a strong return on investment for organizations. Only 40% of respondents stated that AI had directly caused revenue growth for their companies, but 70% said that AI had made employees more productive.
Google Cloud's VP of Global Generative AI, Oliver Parker, wrote that the report indicated that AI hype in organizations is calming down.
"The conversation has shifted to value," he wrote.
The report's findings contrast with research published last month by MIT, which found that though U.S. businesses have invested up to $40 billion in AI altogether, the overwhelming majority (95%) have yet to see a return on their investments or an impact on profits.
