Protiviti’s AI Pulse Survey, released on July 15, 2025, reveals a strong correlation between AI maturity and ROI, highlighting that organizations with advanced AI integration achieve significant value. The survey, polling over 1,000 global respondents, emphasizes the need for strategic alignment and robust capabilities to overcome adoption challenges.
AI maturity strongly correlates with higher ROI, per Protiviti’s survey.
51% of organizations are in Initial or Experimentation AI stages.
95% of Stage 5 organizations report high ROI satisfaction.
Integration and data access are top barriers across AI maturity stages.
Success metrics vary by role: sales focus on cost, compliance on satisfaction.
Strategic data alignment is critical for scaling AI effectively.
Protiviti’s AI Pulse Survey, conducted in 2025, polled over 1,000 respondents across industries like technology, manufacturing, and government, segmenting them into five AI maturity stages: Initial (19%), Experimentation (32%), Defined (21%), Optimization (20%), and Transformation (8%). The findings show that ROI grows with maturity. At Stage 2, 77% of organizations report ROI meeting or exceeding expectations, while 95% of Stage 5 organizations express high satisfaction, with 75% noting AI exceeds ROI expectations. “This survey offers clear insights on the true state of AI progress within companies — cutting through aspirations to reveal where they actually stand,” said Christine Livingston, global leader, AI practice at Protiviti.
Organizations face persistent barriers in AI adoption. Early stages (1-2) struggle with integration into existing systems (30-37%) and identifying impactful use cases. In later stages (4-5), data availability becomes the dominant challenge, rising from 20% to 29%. Other hurdles include a lack of skilled resources and unclear regulatory guidance. “Organizations need to build momentum and experience with AI to progress through the stages and capture the most value,” added Livingston, emphasizing the need for rapid implementation to manage risks and seize opportunities.
The survey highlights varying definitions of AI success across roles. Sales leaders prioritize cost savings (75%) and customer satisfaction (54%), while compliance leaders focus on employee satisfaction (84%) and productivity (80%). Finance teams balance process efficiency (57%), cost savings (55%), and productivity (53%). These differences underscore the need for tailored AI strategies aligned with departmental goals to maximize value.
To move beyond experimentation, organizations must redefine success, shifting from short-term cost savings to strategic growth and innovation. Aligning data strategies with business objectives and building robust AI capabilities are critical for scaling. The survey suggests that over half of organizations remain in early stages (Initial or Experimentation), indicating significant potential for growth as they advance along the maturity curve.
Protiviti’s AI Pulse Survey underscores that organizations with mature AI programs achieve substantial ROI by integrating AI strategically. By addressing integration and data access challenges and aligning strategies with role-specific goals, businesses can unlock AI’s transformative potential for innovation and competitive advantage.
Protiviti is a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise, objective insights, a tailored approach and unparalleled collaboration to help leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti and its independent and locally owned member firms provide clients with consulting and managed solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, digital, legal, HR, risk and internal audit through a network of more than 90 offices in over 25 countries.
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