New research from TrustRadius delves beyond the hype to reveal how artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming daily work and the B2B software buying journey. The report, "From Buzzword to Backbone: How AI Is Redefining B2B Search and Buying," provides critical data for vendors to align their go-to-market strategies with the realities of how these tools are being used.
Quick Intel
95% of workers who use AI do so at least weekly, with 69% using it daily.
ChatGPT is the dominant tool (79%), but the average professional uses 3 different AI solutions.
The top company goals for AI adoption are efficiency (86%), innovation (57%), and cost savings (49%).
45% of all software buyers, and 51% of enterprise buyers, now use AI in their purchasing process.
AI is most used for early-stage research, supplanting traditional search engines for product discovery.
Over half (51%) of companies have a formal AI use policy in place.
AI's Entrenchment in the Modern Workplace
The data confirms that AI is no longer a novelty but a core part of the workday. Usage is particularly high among younger generations, with 86% of Gen Z using AI daily. Job function also influences adoption, with technical roles like engineering leading the charge. The average user employs 3 separate AI tools, a number that rises to 3.6 for Gen Z, indicating a willingness to experiment with different solutions for specific tasks.
Primary Use Cases and Corporate Goals
The application of AI at work is diverse, with the most common uses being research (46%), writing (43%), and boosting general productivity (20%). This widespread experimentation is driven by corporate mandates focused overwhelmingly on achieving greater efficiency (86%). A significant 32% of companies are also developing proprietary AI tools for internal use, a figure that jumps to 54% among large enterprises with more resources.
How AI is Disrupting the B2B Buying Journey
The most significant finding for software vendors is the rapid adoption of AI in the purchasing process. Nearly half of all buyers (45%) now use AI tools like ChatGPT for software research and selection. This usage is even higher among C-suite executives (65%) and Gen Z buyers (51%), meaning AI influences both early research and final decisions. Allyson Havener, Vice President of Corporate and Customer Marketing at TrustRadius, said: "While AI is seemingly everywhere these days, we wanted to go beyond the surface-level trends and take a deeper dive into the real-world data to uncover what's truly driving the AI Age."
The Critical Need for Vendor Visibility and Authenticity
With buyers using AI for preliminary research, a vendor's visibility in these tools is now essential to even be considered. The report also highlights that 94% of buyers who use AI in their process find it helpful, but most verify the AI's output against other sources like user reviews. This underscores the unsustainable current model where AI models use vendor content without driving traffic back, pointing to a need for a future value exchange.
The integration of AI into both daily work and complex buying decisions is now the status quo. For B2B companies, success will depend on understanding these new workflows, ensuring visibility in AI-driven research, and developing AI features that provide genuine, verifiable value to users.
TrustRadius is a buyer intelligence platform for business technology. We enable buyers to make confident decisions through comprehensive product information, in-depth customer insights, and peer conversations. We help technology brands capture and activate the authentic voice of customers to improve their products, build confidence with prospects, and engage in-market buyers to improve ROI.
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