毕马威+-2026+第三季度全球+AI+脉搏：规模化+AI+的问责、韧性与经济性+Global+AI+Pulse+Q3+2026

Global

AIPulse

Q32026

AIatscale:Accountability,

resilienceandeconomics

KPMGInternational|

/aipulse

KPMG.MaketheDifference.AIgeneratedimage

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Foreword

TheAIconversationswe’rehavingwithorganizations

arechanging.Thefocusisstillonwheretoinvest,whattoscaleandhowtocreatevalue.What’sshiftingarethequestions.WhoisaccountableonceAIbecomespart

ofhowthebusinessoperates?Whathappenswhen

somethingitreliesonchanges?Anddowereallyknowwhatwe’regettingforwhatwe’respending?

TheQ3resultsshowwhythesequestionsmattermorenow.AImaturitycontinuestoriseandthegapsbetweenregionsarenarrowing.Beingearly

stillmatters.Butasorganizationsmatureandinvest

further,newrequirementsarecomingintoview,andtheorganizationsfurthestalongarethefirsttoshowthem.

Forus,thatiswhatAIatscaledemands.

Itstartswithaccountability.WhoownstheoutcomewhenAIisinvolvedinadecision?AsAIbecomespartofday-to-dayoperations,thatanswerneedstobe

clear.OrganizationsalsoneedtoknowwhatAIcan

accessanddo,andhowdifferentmodels,agentsandworkloadsaremanagedacrossthebusiness.

Resiliencelooksdifferenttoo.Aproviderchangesitsterms.Amodelisnolongeravailable.Requirements

shiftinanimportantmarket.Whathappenstothebusiness?Cybersecurity,modelsovereigntyand

providerdependencymaylooklikeseparateissues.ButthemoreorganizationsrelyonAI,themore

connectedtheybecome.

Costraisesanothersetofquestions.Most

organizationscannowseewhatAIiscostingthem.

Knowingwhattheyaregettingbackisharder.Cantheyconnectcosttovalueconsistently?Cantheyusethatinformationtodecidewheretoinvest,whattoscaleorwhentochangecourse?

Thesearen’tabstractquestions.Theyaredecisions

organizationsarestartingtofaceasAIbecomesmoreembeddedinhowtheyoperate.ManagingAIwellisn’taboutaddingmoreprocess.It’sabouthavingenoughvisibility,accountabilityandcontroltomakegood

decisionswhenthingschange.

Soasyoureadthisquarter’sfindings,thinkaboutthesequestionsinrelationtoyourownorganization.Who

ownstheoutcomewhenAIisinvolvedinadecision?

Whatwouldhappenifacriticalmodel,providerorotherdependencychanged?Andcanyouconsistentlyconnectwhatyou’respendingonAItothevalueitiscreating?

PriyaEmmanuel

GlobalHeadofaIQ,

KPMGInternational,

AILeadfortheAmericasregion,andPrincipal

KPMGintheUS

BenediktHöck

RegionalAILeadforEMEAKPMGinGermany

SimonBenson

RegionalAILeadforASPACKPMGAustralia

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Executivesummary

Themostconsequentialsignalwefindthis

quarteriswhatrisingmaturitynowdemandsof

organizations.Thequestioniswhetherorganizationscangovernwheretheirmodelscomefrom,securewhatthosemodelscanreach,orchestratehowtheyareusedandaccountforwhattheycost.

Drawingon2,131seniorleadersin20countries,thisquarter’sfindingsshowthatthequestion

isnarrowingwitheachwaveofthestudy:fromorchestrationinQ1,tovaluerealizationinQ2,towhatscaledemandsinQ3.

Averageplannedinvestmenthasrisento

US$210millionfortheyearahead,spreadacrossallthreeregions.Atthestartofthecalendaryear,theAmericaswereclearlyaheadonAImaturity.

Thatgaphasnarrowedto8points:64percent

oforganizationsintheAmericasarescalingAI

orbeyond,against61percentinAsiaPacificand56percentinEMEA.AsAIadoptionbroadens,thecompetitiveadvantageisshiftingfrombeingfirsttorunningAIwell.

Buildingthemanagementlayer

Fifty-fivepercentoforganizationsnowoperateaformalAIharnesslayerrisingto86percentamongthose

alreadyreportingestablishedreturns.Whatthoselayerscontainismostlycontrol:securityandidentity,data

access,outputmonitoringandcosttrackingleadthelist,whilemodelrouting,thecapabilitythatdecideswhich

modelhandleswhichjob,islowerdownthepriority

list.Fifty-threepercentnowholdanamedexecutiveortheexecutivecommitteeaccountableforAI-informeddecisions.Thirty-eightpercentaredevelopingor

implementingmulti-agentsystems,andsignificant

employeeadoptionofAIagentshasrisento34percentfrom25percentinQ1.

Resilienceandcontinuity

Atscale,cyberexposure,modelsovereigntyandprovider

dependencymayconsolidatetoasinglematterof

continuity:whatkeepsanAIprogramrunningwhen

somethingitdependsonchanges?Halfofthemostmatureorganizationsnamecybersecurityasabarrier,againstathirdofthosestillexperimenting,and71percentofthatleading

groupincludecyberanddatasecurityamongtheareas

receivingAIbudget,against36percentofexperimenters.Sovereigntyhasmovedintoformaldecision-making.

Twenty-onepercentrunanenterprise-widestrategyunderregularreviewandafurther51percentapplyformalcriteriatomostorselecteddecisions.Only8percenthavesloweddeploymentbecauseofit.

Fromcostcontroltoeconomicmanagement

MostorganizationscannowseewhatAIcoststhem.Sixty-onepercentreviewAIcostsatapprovaland

59percentmonitortheminoperation,yetonly12percentconsistentlyassessthevalueAIgeneratesagainstthe

costitincurs.Amongorganizationsalreadyreporting

returnsthatfigureis48percent.Thatstep,fromtrackingcosttojudgingitagainstoutcome,iswhateconomic

managementaddstofinancialcontrol.

Ambitionandspendingarenear-universal,and89percentreportmeasurablevalue.Thedifferencenowliesinthe

managementsystemunderneath:controls,accountability,orchestration,resilienceandcostdiscipline.Thatgapis

wide,andattentionremainsfixedonadoption.

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Thequestion,quarterbyquarter

HowtheGlobalAIPulsequestionhasnarrowedacrossthreewavesin2026

Q12026Orchestration

HowwillorganizationscoordinateAIacrosstheenterprise?

TheAmericasledonscaling:56%against43%inAsiaPacificand40%inEMEA.

W

Q22026Valuerealization

Isscalingtranslatingintoenterprisevalue?

Mostorganizationsreportedmeasurablevalue;fewcouldshowitconsistently.

Q32026Whatscaledemands

Canorganizationsgovern,secure,orchestrateandaccountfortheAItheyrun?

Regionalmaturityhasconvergedtoaneight-pointspread.Themanagementlayer,resilienceandeconomic

disciplineseparatetheleadinggroup.

HowwillorganizationscoordinateAIacrosstheenterprise?Isscalingtranslatingintoenterprisevalue?Canorganizationsgovern,secure,orchestrateandaccountforAItheyrun?

Q12026n=2,110,Q32026n=2,131(Americasn=670;AsiaPacific

n=540;EMEAn=921).Q2valuefinding:IPSOSAIValuePerformanceframework,derivedmeasure.

Source:GlobalAIPulseQ32026,KPMGInternational,September2026.

Theorganizationsfurthestalongshowwhatscaledemands

Percentageofrespondents,bystageofAIjourney

Gap(pts)Enterprise-widesovereigntystrategy8%53%45

Valueassessedagainstcost,consistently*

48%

N/A

AI-assistedcyberdefense

8%

58%

50

FormalAIharnesslayer

31%

86%55

SignificantemployeeadoptionofAIagents

15%

48%

33

Experimentation●EstablishedROI

*Notaskedofearly-stagerespondents;experimentationvaluenotshown.

CompositeoffivemeasuresacrosstheAIjourneyquestion.Experimentationn=268;EstablishedROIn=208.Source:GlobalAIPulseQ32026,KPMGInternational,September2026

Keyfindings

Threedemandscomeintosharperfocusthisquarter.OrganizationsarebuildingthemanagementlayerofcontrolsandaccountabilitytorunAIratherthanpilotit.Cyber,sovereigntyandproviderdependencyareconvergingintooneresiliencequestion.AndmostorganizationscanseewhatAIcosts,butfewconnectthatcosttovalue.

Buildingthemanagementlayer

Resilienceandcontinuity

86%

Thematuritygapisnarrowing

areadaptingtheircybersecurity

operatingmodelforAI-acceleratedthreats

55%

operateformalAIharnesslayer

Risingto

86%

amongestablished-ROIorganizations

spreadinmaturitybetweentheleadingandtrailingregions,downfrom

16pointsinQ1

53%

placeaccountabilityforAI-informeddecisionsatC-suitelevelorabove

23%

includemodelrouting,

theleastcommon

capabilityinthelayer

Against

43%

forsecurityand

identitycontrols

US$210m

averageplannedAIinvestment

overthenext12months,upfromUS$186millioninQ1

8pts

71%

ofestablished-ROI

organizationsincludecyberanddata

securityamongtheirAIbudgetpriorities

Against

36%

ofexperimenters

21%

runanenterprise-widemodel

sovereigntystrategyunder

regularreview

Afurther

51%

applyformalcriteriatomost

orselecteddecisions

reportslowingAIdeployment

becauseofsovereigntyconcerns

8%

34%

reportsignificantemployeeadoptionofAIagents,upfrom25percentinQ1

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Fromcostcontrolto

economicmanagement

Productivitystillleads;operatingprioritiesaregainingground

reportmeasurablevaluefromAI

89%

61%

59%

reviewAIcostsatapprovaland

monitorthem

inoperation

12%

consistentlyassessthevalueofAI

againstitscost

Risingto

48%

amongthosealreadyreportingreturns

ChangeinkeyAIpriorities,Q12026toQ32026,percentagepoints

Human-AIcollaboration

+4pts

Q1|Q3

28%32%

ResponsibleAIandgovernance

+4pts

26%

30%

Trustandsecurity

+4pts

26%

30%

Adaptabilityandresilience

+3pts

18%

21%

Productivitygains-5pts

42%

37%

Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesyourorganization’sAIpriorities?Q12026n=2,110;Q32026n=2,131.Source:GlobalAIPulseQ1andQ32026,KPMGInternational,April2026andSeptember2026respectively.

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Thematuritygapisnarrowing

Earlierintheyear,AImaturitywasconcentratedinahandfulofmarketsandsectors,andtheAmericasheldaclearlead.Thatgapisnarrowing.

InQ1theAmericasledonscalingat56percent,

against43percentinAsiaPacificand40percentin

EMEA;byQ3thosefiguresare64,61and56percentrespectively,andthespreadbetweenregionshas

closedfrom16pointsto8.TheAmericasarestill

advancing.Therestoftheworldisadvancingfaster,fromalowerbase.

Theinvestmentgapisnarrowingtoo.PlannedAI

investmentaveragesUS$210millionglobally,

upfromUS$186millioninQ1.EMEAhasrisenfromUS$157milliontoUS$203millionandtheAmericas

fromUS$178milliontoUS$191million;AsiaPacific,atUS$246million,isunchangedandremainsthelargest.

Mostofthemovementisattheearlystages.

Farfewerorganizationsarestillexperimenting

thaninQ1,13percentagainst22,whilethesharereportingestablishedreturnshaschangedless,

from8percentto10.Movementisconcentratedintheearlyandmiddlestagesofthecurve.

Thatisthepatternofamarketthathaslargely

workedoutdeploymentandisnowworkingoutwhatscalerequires.Asadoptionbecomesuniversal,the

differentiatormovesfrombeingearlytoexecutingwell,whichisacapabilityorganizationscanbuild.

WithAImovingfromproductivity

towardstransformation,theoverall

journeyisverysimilaracrossregions.

InEMEA,peopletransformationismorecomplexandsovereigntyismuchmoreinfocus.Butthequestionisthesame

everywhere;itisthewaytoresolveit

thatdiffers,anditislessofatechnologyquestionthancompaniesexpect.”

BenediktHöck

RegionalAILeadforEMEAKPMGinGermany

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AImaturityisconvergingacrossregions

OrganizationsscalingAIorbeyond,percentageofrespondents

Americas56%

AsiaPacific43%EMEA40%

Q12026

WhichofthefollowingbestdescribesthephaseyourorganizationisinitsAIjourney?

64%

61%8-pointspread

56%

Q32026

Q12026n=2,110;Q32026n=2,131.Americasn=670;AsiaPacificn=540;EMEAn=921.

Source:GlobalAIPulseQ1andQ32026,KPMGInternational,April2026andSeptember2026respectively.

Plannedinvestmentisconvergingacrossregions

MeanplannedAIspendingoverthenext12months,US$millions

Region

Q12026(US$M)

Q32026(US$M)

Change

Global

186

210

+13%

AsiaPacific

245

246

0%

EMEA

157

203

+29%

Americas

178

191

+7%

HowmuchinUSdollarsdoesyourorganizationplantoinvestinAIoverthenext12months?Weightedmean.Q12026n=2,110;Q32026n=2,131.Americasn=670;AsiaPacificn=540;EMEAn=921.

Source:GlobalAIPulseQ1andQ32026,KPMGInternational,April2026andSeptember2026respectively.

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Contents

10

Buildingthemanagementlayer

23

Conclusion

15

Resilienceandcontinuity

24

HowKPMGcanhelp

20

FromcostcontroltoAIeconomic

management

25

Methodology

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Chapter2:

Resilienceandcontinuity

Chapter1:

Buildingthemanagementlayer

HowKPMGcanhelp

Conclusion

Methodology

Chapter3:

FromcostcontroltoAIeconomicmanagement

Chapter1

55%operateaformalAIharnesslayer

86%

amongorganizationsalreadyreportingestablishedreturns

53%

placeaccountabilityforAI-informeddecisionsatC-suitelevelorabove

Buildingthe

managementlayer

23%

havebuiltmodelrouting,

theleastcommoncapabilityinthelayer

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Chapter1:

Buildingthemanagementlayer

Chapter2:

Resilienceandcontinuity

Chapter3:

FromcostcontroltoAIeconomicmanagement

Conclusion

HowKPMGcanhelp

Methodology

Organizationsarebuildingthemanagementlayertorun

AI.Acrossthesample,itsmostcommoncapabilities

todayarecontrols,anditsleastcommonismodelrouting.Amongthemostmatureorganizations,bothareinplace.

Theshiftshowsfirstinwhatorganizationssaytheyare

tryingtoachieve.ProductivityremainsamongtheleadingAIprioritiesbuthasfallenfivepointssinceQ1.Gaining

groundaretheprioritiestiedtohoworganizationsoperate:

human-AIcollaboration,responsibleAIandgovernance,

andtrustandsecurityhaveallgainedground.Productivityremainstheleadingpriority;theoperatingprioritiesare

gaininggroundalongsideit.

Whatorganizationsarebuilding

Acrossthefullsample,55percentoforganizationsnowoperateaformalAIharnesslayer:thecontrolsandtoolingthatsitbetweenAImodelsandbusinessusecasesandgovernwhatAIispermittedtodoandwhere.Only5percentreportnoformalapproach.

Fifteenpercentleaveittoindividualteamsand

23percenthavesomesharedtooling.

Thepatternrisessteeplywithmaturity.Among

organizationsalreadyreportingestablishedreturns,

86percentoperateaformalcross-functionalorenterprise-widelayer,including65percentthathavedeployedit

acrosstheenterprise.Attheexperimentationstage,

31percentreportaformalcross-functionalorenterprise-widelayer,including10percentoperatingenterprise-wide.

AImanagementinfrastructureformalizesasprogramsmature

ApproachtomanagingthelayerbetweenAImodelsandbusinessusecases,percentageofrespondents

Total

5152331242

Experimentation

16282321103

Strategicplanning

6233226121

Scaling

2112840181

Drivingadoption

81938313

EstablishedROI

1762165

NoformalapproachTeamsmanageindependentlySomesharedcontrolsFormalcross-functionalEnterprise-wideDon’tknow/notapplicable

Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesyourorganization’scurrentapproachtomanagingthelayerbetweenAImodelsandbusinessusecases?Experimentationn=268;Strategicplanningn=449;Scalingn=593;Drivingadoptionn=474;EstablishedROIn=208.

Source:GlobalAIPulseQ32026,KPMGInternational,September2026.

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Chapter1:

Buildingthemanagementlayer

Chapter2:

Resilienceandcontinuity

Chapter3:

FromcostcontroltoAIeconomicmanagement

Conclusion

HowKPMGcanhelp

Methodology

Whatthelayercontrols

Thecapabilitiesinsidethoselayersclusteraroundcontrol.Securityandidentitycontrolsanddataaccesscontrols

leadat43percent,followedbymonitoringofAIoutputsat41percentandcostandusagetrackingat37percent.Modelrouting,whichdecideswhichmodelhandleswhichtask,istheleastcommonat23percent.

Mostorganizationsappeartohavebuiltagatebefore

theybuiltaswitchboard.AgateletsAIbedeployed.A

switchboarddecideswhereworkgoes,andthatiswhereorchestrationandconsumptioneconomicsbegin.Modelroutingisincludedby17percentoforganizationsattheexperimentationstageand41percentofthosereportingestablishedreturns.

NobodyinaboardroomisaskingwhethertodoAI.Theyareaskingwhytheyarenotgettingvalueyet,andwhathastochangetomakeitstick.Theanswerisrarelythe

model,andmorecommonlytheanswer

liesinhowthebroaderenterpriseadapts.”

SimonBenson

RegionalAILeadforASPACKPMGAustralia

Organizationsarebuildingthecontrolsfirst

CapabilitiesincludedintheAIharnessororchestrationapproach,percentageofrespondents

43%

43%41%

Securityandidentitycontrols

37%34%

33%

DataaccesscontrolsMonitoringofAIoutputsCostandusagetracking HumanreviewEvaluationandtesting

30%

28%

PolicyandguardrailenforcementAudittrails

23%

Modelrouting

Noneoftheabove2%Don’tknow2%

Whichofthefollowingcapabilitiesarecurrentlyincludedinyourorganization’sAIharnesslayerorAIorchestrationapproach?n=2,131.Multipleresponse;“Noneoftheabove”and“Don’tknow”shown.

Source:GlobalAIPulseQ32026,KPMGInternational,September2026.

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Chapter1:

Buildingthemanagementlayer

Chapter2:

Resilienceandcontinuity

Chapter3:

FromcostcontroltoAIeconomicmanagement

Conclusion

HowKPMGcanhelp

Methodology

Whoisaccountable

Fifty-threepercentoforganizationsplaceaccountabilityforAI-informeddecisionsatC-suitelevelorabove:

35percentwithanamedexecutivesuchasa

chiefoperatingofficer,chiefAIofficerorchief

informationofficer,and18percentwiththeCEOorexecutivecommittee.

Acontrollayerwithoutanamedownerisapolicyratherthanamanagementsystem.Accountabilityiswhatturnscontrolsintodecisionssomeonecanbeaskedtoexplain.

Howagentsarebeingputtowork

Aquarteroforganizationsreportdevelopingmulti-agentsystemsandafifthareorchestratingmultipleagents.

Thepurposeisbroadeningastheydo:revenue-

focusedagentstrategieshaverisensinceQ1while

efficiency-focusedstrategieshavedeclined,andmostorganizationsnowpursuethetwotogetherratherthantradingoneoffagainsttheother.

Employeesaremovingtoo.SignificantadoptionofAIagentsisup9pointssinceQ1,to34percent,whilesignificantresistancehasfallen.IntheUStracking

sample,significantadoptionmorethandoubled,from16percentto36.

HowemployeesrespondtoAIagentsvariesbymorethan30pointsdependingonhowfaraprogramhastraveled.Inorganizationsalreadyreportingreturns,

48percentseesignificantemployeeadoption

and3percentseeresistanceofanykind.Atthe

proof-of-conceptstagethosefiguresare15percentand26percent.Higheremployeeadoptionisassociated

withgreaterorganizationalcapability.

35percentwithanamedexecutive

suchasachiefoperatingofficer,chiefAIofficerorchiefinformationofficer,and18percentwiththe

CEOor

executivecommittee.

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Chapter1:

Buildingthemanagementlayer

Chapter2:

Resilienceandcontinuity

Chapter3:

FromcostcontroltoAIeconomicmanagement

Conclusion

HowKPMGcanhelp

Methodology

Whattodesigninfromthestart

Today,controlsarethemostcommoncapabilitiesinthelayerandroutingtheleast.Forleadersbuildingthelayernow,theimplicationistodesignallfourelementsinfromthestartratherthanaddthemastheprogrammatures.

Accountability

AnamedexecutivewhoownsAI-informed

decisions,withthetraceabilitytoshowwhichmodelandwhichcontrolwasinvolved.

Controls

Security,identity,dataaccessandoutput

monitoring,builtonceandappliedtoeverymodelandagentratherthancasebycase.

Everyonetalksaboutthetension:

youneedtoinnov