Companies ahead in the artificial intelligence (AI) game or the top 15% are 2.5 times more likely to achieve revenue growth above 10% and over 3 times more likely to secure profit margins of at least 15%, according to NTT DATA’s 2026 Global AI Report: A playbook for AI leaders. The playbook is based on the company’s new benchmark research and reveals how “AI leaders” are separating from competitors through strategy and execution.
Based on a survey of 2,567 senior executives across 35 countries, the findings show that high performers treat AI as a core growth engine, focus on high value domains and rebuild core systems with embedded AI. They succeed through strong governance, secure infrastructure, expert talent and strategic partnerships.
“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.”
Strategy
Leaders treat AI as a core growth engine and rewire their strategy accordingly.
Strategic alignment and speed: AI leaders win by tightly aligning AI with business strategy and turning strategic focus and speed into outsized financial returns.
Focused end-to-end approach: Top performers focus on high-value domains that unlock disproportionate economic value and redesign workflows end to end.
Flywheel effect: These front-runners create a cycle where initial investments fuel early success that drives reinvestment for further growth.
Core reinvention: Growth leaders rebuild core applications with embedded AI rather than limiting themselves to surface-level add-ons.
Execution
AI leaders differentiate through resilient foundations, empowered humans, hardwired adoption and governance, and expert partners.
Secure at scale: AI leaders build scalable and secure stacks, localize or relocate AI infrastructure for private/sovereign AI, and invest to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks.
Expert-first AI: These front-runners use AI to amplify the impact of experienced, highly skilled employees rather than replace them.
Change that sticks: Top performers treat adoption as a company-wide change program and adopt constructive change management to reduce resistance.
Governed for scale: Leading organizations centralize AI governance, formalize enterprise-wide oversight, and empower dedicated Chief AI Officers (CAIOs) to own risk and align innovation.
Partner-powered growth: Best-in-class players lean on strategic external collaborators and are open to outcome-based gain-sharing models that accelerate AI value.
“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,” said Abhijit Dubey, CEO and CAIO, NTT DATA, Inc. “Supporting this focused, end-to-end 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.”