A new survey from Deloitte Private indicates a sharp pivot toward artificial intelligence among private company leaders, with more than half (52%) citing increased AI usage as a top-three priority for the coming year. This represents a significant jump from just 22% a year ago. The findings, published in the "Private Company Outlook: Digital Investment" study, suggest that private firms are moving past the experimentation phase and are now focused on leveraging technology to drive revenue growth and operational efficiency.
Primary Business Goals: Revenue growth (71%) and productivity (62%) are the leading priorities for the next 12 months.
AI Prioritization Surge: 52% of leaders now list increasing AI use as a top-three priority, up from 22% in the previous year.
Investment Commitment: 63% of private organizations are actively investing in digital transformation, while 33% remain in pilot stages.
Revenue-Based ROI Gap: Companies with over $500 million in revenue are significantly more likely to report moderate to high ROI from AI (64%) than smaller firms (11%).
Self-Funded Innovation: 50% of respondents are funding AI and digital shifts through internal budget reprioritization rather than external lending.
Operational Hurdles: Major barriers to AI value include data quality issues (72%) and gaps in AI fluency or leadership (53%).
The survey highlights a widening gap between large and mid-sized private companies regarding AI maturity. Higher-revenue firms—those generating $500 million or more annually—are scaling AI across functions at nearly double the rate of their smaller counterparts. While these larger organizations are seeing tangible returns on investment, smaller firms struggle with the technical debt of legacy systems and the difficulty of moving beyond the initial pilot stage.
"Private companies are moving beyond AI experimentation and investing in it to drive growth, improve productivity, and make faster decisions," said Wolfe Tone, vice chair and US Deloitte Private leader. "Many are starting to see returns, and continuing the momentum will depend on how they integrate AI across leadership, governance, and the workforce."
Despite the push for digital adoption, the survey identifies critical gaps in board oversight. While boards are proactive in cybersecurity and regulatory compliance, only 22% of respondents believe their boards are proactive in overseeing the leadership's capability to execute AI transformations. Furthermore, ethical technology use remains a secondary concern for many governing bodies.
The focus on investment remains inward, with nearly all respondents (93%) expecting the highest impact to manifest in workforce productivity and operational efficiency. This shift suggests that while technical barriers like data availability persist, the strategic emphasis is firmly on translating digital agility into disciplined, large-scale execution to maintain a competitive edge in an AI-driven market.
Deloitte Private's pulse survey, "Private Company Outlook," gauges private company leaders' perspectives on opportunities and risks to business now and in the future. The survey of 100 private company leaders was conducted online by an independent research company between March 18 and 24, 2026. Respondents included CEOs, CFOs, presidents, board members, and partners/owners of private companies in the U.S. with annual revenues of US$100 million to US$1 billion+.
Deloitte Private serves the unique needs of private companies and their stakeholders by leveraging the full depth of Deloitte's technical experience and industry capabilities to serve private enterprises, family-owned businesses, private equity portfolio companies and emerging growth companies. Visit us at https://www2.deloitte.com/us/private or follow us on LinkedIn.
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