The numbers come first.
ServiceNow says the biggest divide between AI leaders and laggards is not the tools themselves, but the human side of the business. Diana David, ServiceNow’s director of futures, told Fortune’s AIQ Summit that the widest gaps are in talent investment, operational discipline and training.
In ServiceNow’s Enterprise AI Maturity Index, 57% of 'pacesetters' invest in ongoing AI upskilling, versus 4% of other organizations. The report says the widest single gap is in attracting, hiring and retaining AI talent: 68% vs. 10%.
David described pacesetters as the roughly 21% of surveyed organizations that scored above 60 on the 100-point index, averaging 74 against 45 for the rest. Their edge also includes data and execution. According to David, 64% are on a path to unified data, versus 14%, and around 57% have 'a clear, strong AI vision,' versus 21%.
The report says about 59% of companies surveyed are past the pilot phase. But only 9% are doing 'agentic, autonomous, multi-step workflows that are not checked by human beings at every step.' Among pacesetters, that share is 36%, against 2% of others.
David said the real problem is often not access to AI, but whether companies train people to use it well. 'AI adoption for everyone' is her 'pet peeve,' she said, because it may sound good in a CEO presentation but 'it is not translating into productivity.'
She said the answer starts with leadership, a growth mindset and a clear vision for change, followed by specific training around AI and specific functions. She urged companies to think from 'a day zero mentality' rather than 'sprinkle AI on something probably a very old or broken process.'
Kahn said many companies gave employees AI tools and then decided it was too expensive, with no productivity gain. David said firms need visibility, ownership and iteration, and pointed to ServiceNow’s AI Control Tower as one way to see across the organization.
The report also says 59% of organizations lack long-term HR plans for AI, and 42% of employees say they aren’t getting enough AI training. ServiceNow says pacesetters’ average ROI is 160%.
For business leaders, the lesson is straightforward: capital rewards clear rules, not slogans. Companies that train workers, align data and define ownership are the ones turning AI from a demo into productivity. The rest are buying software without building the discipline needed to make it pay.
The market has already voted. In this race, the advantage is going to firms that treat AI as an operating model, not a publicity line.
