Kearney Study: AI Investments Fail to Move Transformation Success Past 30% — Kearney, Inc.

Event summary

Kearney's 2026 Transformation Study found only 29% of transformations consistently deliver intended value.
80% of executives report less than half of AI initiatives yield measurable financial impact.
Resistance to change is the top barrier, cited more often than budget, timelines, or technology.
Companies embedding capability-building from day one are nearly 3x more likely to realize expected value.
Nearly 75% of leaders say strategy and priorities are set primarily by senior leadership.

The big picture

Despite record investments in AI and transformation initiatives, Kearney's study reveals a persistent adoption gap, with resistance to change as the primary obstacle. The findings highlight that digital capability alone is insufficient, emphasizing the need for a 'human-shaped' approach to transformation. This trend underscores broader challenges in organizational change management across industries, where strategy and technology often outpace cultural and operational readiness.

What we're watching

Human-Centric Transformation: How companies integrating motivation, human contribution, capacity for change, and capabilities early will outperform peers.
AI Adoption Gaps: Whether AI investments will accelerate or compound existing transformation failure patterns.
Leadership Accountability: The pace at which senior leadership will shift from strategy-setting to embedding capability-building from the start.