Aptean Research Reveals Why General-Purpose AI is Falling Short of Corporate Expectations

ALPHARETTA, Ga., July 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — O e yea afte a MIT study¹ epo ted 95% of ge e ative AI pilots we e faili g to delive measu able value, ew i te atio al esea ch f om Aptea , poi ts to a p ima y cause: ge e al-pu pose AI lacks the eleva ce a d accu acy that busi esses dema d. The su vey also eveals the ise of “Shadow AI” tools, the eed fo i c eased gove a ce, a d co ti ued optimism fo the lo g-te m impact of AI solutio s.

The Case fo I dust y-Specific AI

Aptea ‘s 2026 A tificial I tellige ce Resea ch fou d that ove the past yea compa ies usi g ve tical, i dust y-specific AI outpe fo med those elyi g solely o ge e al-pu pose tools o seve of eight ope atio al key pe fo ma ce i dicato s measu ed. “Seve ty-seve pe ce t of leade s told us ge e al-pu pose AI simply ca ‘t ha dle the complexity of thei ope atio s. That’s ot a k ock o the tech ology; it’s a mismatch of desig ,” TVN Reddy, CEO of Aptea stated. “A ge e ic model does ‘t k ow you busi ess, you complia ce ules, o what success looks like i you i dust y. Pu pose-built AI does, a d that’s ofte the diffe e ce betwee success a d failu e.”

Su vey espo de ts clea ly stated thei desi e fo ve tical AI solutio s, pu pose-built fo a si gle i dust y o fu ctio a d t ai ed o the data, te mi ology, a d complia ce ules specific to that domai . 88% of leade s said pu pose-built, i dust y-specific AI is c itical o ve y impo ta t to thei busi ess. Whe asked why they p efe ed i dust y-specific solutio s, the top th ee easo s cited we e easie i teg atio with existi g systems, mo e eleva t a d accu ate outputs, a d bette st ategic guida ce f om ve do s who u de sta d thei secto .

The su vey ide tified systems i teg atio as a ba ie to AI adoptio . Eighty-two pe ce t of espo de ts said i teg ati g AI with co e systems is mo e difficult tha AI tech ology itself. Most busi esses lack this capability i -house a d tu to outside ve do s fo help: 92% of espo de ts ag eed thei o ga izatio would be efit f om exte al expe tise to maximize AI’s value, a d i teg atio with existi g systems a ked as the top facto i ve do selectio .

A Call fo Gove a ce a d Gua d ails

Afte the failu e of i itial AI pilot p og ams, ma y employees elected to bypass compa y-sa ctio ed tools i favo of outside AI tech ologies. The esea ch fou d 40% of employees usi g these Shadow AI tools at wo k without fo mal app oval. This behavio stems f om th ee facto s: a gap betwee employee adoptio speed a d o ga izatio al eadi ess, a lack of sa ctio ed tools, a d i dividuals a e p io itizi g thei immediate eeds ove the o ga izatio ‘s gove a ce measu es. Despite thei ow use of Shadow AI, 96% of espo de ts say a fo mal AI gove a ce f amewo k — with defi ed accou tability a d ethical sta da ds — is ecessa y, a d 75% say the lack of a gove a ce f amewo k is a majo ba ie to success.

Optimism E du es

Despite ea ly failu es a d gove a ce gaps, compa ies emai ove whelmi gly optimistic about AI a d see it as esse tial to lo g-te m success. I fact, 83% said oppo tu ity is thei p ima y motivato , a d 82% ag ee AI offe s clea value that has ‘t bee fully ealized yet. Rathe tha eadi g cu e t failu e ates as a easo to pause, espo de ts see them as a easo to keep i vesti g a d gai a competitive adva tage.

Read Full Repo t: The complete fi di gs f om Aptea ’s 2026 esea ch a e available at https://www.aptea .com/e -US/ esou ces/p oduct-capabilities/datasheet/aptea -i tellige ce- epo t-the- ecko i g.

Data Ba k a d Resou ces: P eapp oved La guage, Statistics a d Cha ts a e available fo publicatio at https://www.aptea .com/e -US/ai-statistics-data-ba k

¹Challapally et al., The Ge AI Divide: State of AI i Busi ess 2025, MIT NANDA, July 2025

About this Resea ch

The Aptea 2026 A tificial I tellige ce Resea ch is a multi- egio study of how o ga izatio s a e putti g a tificial i tellige ce (AI) to wo k, whe e it’s payi g off, whe e it is ’t, a d why. Aptea commissio ed i depe de t esea ch fi m Va so Bou e to su vey 1,535 decisio -make s at busi esses with $10 millio o mo e i a ual eve ue ac oss six ma kets (the U ited States, Ca ada, the U ited Ki gdom, the Nethe la ds, F a ce, a d Ge ma y) a d five i dust ies: food a d beve age; appa el a d soft goods; t a spo tatio a d dist ibutio ; disc ete a d p ocess ma ufactu i g; a d equipme t deale s, plus a c oss-secto supply chai cut. Pa ticipa ts we e busi ess a d IT leade s, f om the C-suite to ma ageme t, with di ect i volveme t i thei o ga izatio ’s AI st ategy a d i flue ce o decisio s elati g to e te p ise esou ce pla i g (ERP) o supply chai ma ageme t (SCM) systems.

About Aptea

Aptea is a AI compa y built fo i dust ial busi ess. Fo medium a d e te p ise ma ufactu e s, dist ibuto s, a d wholesale s faci g isi g costs, sh i ki g ma gi s, a d ope atio al complexity, Aptea embeds AI di ectly i to the wo kflows, decisio s, a d data you busi ess al eady u s o – so i tellige ce is ‘t a bolt-o , it’s how the wo k gets do e. The esult: faste decisio s, lowe costs, a d measu able ma gi imp oveme t delive ed th ough a o goi g pa t e ship, ot a o e-off impleme tatio . Headqua te ed i Alpha etta, Geo gia, with offices ac oss No th Ame ica, Eu ope, a d Asia-Pacific. Lea mo e at aptea .com.

About Va so Bou e

Va so Bou e is a i depe de t specialist i ma ket esea ch fo the tech ology secto . Thei eputatio fo obust a d c edible esea ch-based a alysis is fou ded upo igo ous esea ch p i ciples a d ou ability to seek the opi io s of se io decisio make s ac oss tech ical a d busi ess fu ctio s, i all busi ess secto s a d all majo ma kets. Fo mo e i fo matio , visit www.va so bou e.com.

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