Only 2 percent of Canadian businesses report seeing a return on investment from artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, according to a recent survey.
It found 93 percent of organizations were using AI, up from 61 percent in 2024, but most had yet to see a return on their investment in the technology.
Two percent said they were seeing a return on investment (ROI), while 37 percent said they expected it could take up to three years before seeing a return. Another 24 percent said they expected it to take between three and five years before they started seeing benefits from AI. Twenty-four percent said they expected it would take more than five years for the company to see a return on investment.
Among the companies that reported a return on their AI investments, 31 percent expressed uncertainty about the extent of the return they were experiencing, while another 31 percent estimated between five and 10 percent of ROI. Six percent indicated their return fell within the range of 10 to 20 percent, while another 6 percent said their companies were seeing more than 20 percent ROI.
KPMG Canada managing partner of digital and transformation Stephanie Terrill said generating growth from AI can take time, but that is a luxury many Canadian companies don’t have.
“Canada is facing near-term threats to its economic competitiveness and grappling with declining productivity and prosperity, so waiting years for AI investments to create value isn’t realistic in this environment—in fact, it’s downright risky,” she said.
She also noted the results may demonstrate that some organizations do not have consistent methods to track and report AI outcomes, or are using methodology that does not correctly track its benefits.
Thirty-two percent of survey participants said their organizations were “partial adopters” of AI technologies for workflow and operations, while 31 percent reported working for businesses considered “advanced adopters” who have fully integrated the technology into workflows. The survey also found that 20 percent of organizations were in the initial stages of implementing AI and were considered “early adopters,” while 17 percent were still experimenting with the technology.
Recent research by KPMG found that 73 percent of CEOs were planning to dedicate between 10 and 20 percent of budgets to AI over the next year. AI implementation was also identified as a top operational priority for the next three years.
KPMG conducted its online survey of 753 business leaders between Aug. 15 and Sept. 3.
Sixty-four percent were from private organizations, while 36 percent were from publicly traded companies. Thirty percent worked for companies with a reported annual revenue more than $1 billion, while 35 percent were from organizations with a revenue between $500 million to $1 billion, 30 percent worked for companies that earn between $100 million and $500 million, and 5 percent were from organizations that earn between $50 million and $100 million.
