Fujitsu survey 2026Four keys to boost productivity with AI

In February 2026, Fujitsu surveyed 1,000 corporate executives across ten countries to identify the challenges they face in adopting AI. (*1)

The results indicated that AI is rapidly expanding its reach to move from the office out to the front line itself. Forty-one percent said they use AI for office work, while 34 percent said they use AI in physical operations, including manufacturing and logistics.

“AI has now moved from experimentation into the execution phase,” says Hiroshi Nishikawa, Senior Director of the Technology Marketing Strategy Division at Fujitsu.

He explains that nearly 90 percent of respondents plan to implement AI in both office and on-site operations within the next three years, indicating that the pace of AI adoption in business will continue to accelerate.

“Importantly, we also discovered that executives remain concerned about a number of negative issues surrounding AI, such as the exceptional pace of AI adoption, security, the immaturity of AI itself, and its impact on employment,” says Nishikawa.

He also pointed out that nearly 80 percent firmly believe that organizations failing to keep pace with the evolution of AI will lose their competitive edge.

“These data show CXOs are adopting AI with a real sense of urgency, driven by the fear of being left behind by technological advances, despite having a number of major concerns,” Nishikawa added.

Calculating AI’s impact on productivity in the economy continues to be widely debated. The International Monetary Fund noted in 2025 that academic research shows different estimates even when using the same framework. (*2)

One of the studies that sparked intense debate is by Daron Acemoglu. The Nobel Prize-winning economist estimated that AI would increase Total Factor Productivity, an index that measures productivity, by around 0.53 percentage points over the next 10 years from 2025. (*3) This cautious and limited estimate drew considerable attention, highlighting the broader challenge businesses face in generating tangible results from their investments in AI.

Nishikawa and his team wanted to try and shed more light on this subject, analyzing the survey results to find out whether any organizations had successfully improved productivity through AI. They identified a group of organizations that use AI in both office and on-site operations, as well as achieving a certain level of productivity improvement.

What did these leading organizations, which had successfully improved productivity, have in common? Nishikawa and his team analyzed the data, concluding that the leading organizations scored highly in the following four areas:

The first shared principle is strategy. Leading organizations place AI strategy at the core of their business, alongside their purpose-driven management. A shared understanding of AI’s value among top executives is essential for successful implementation.

The second is that they place a strong emphasis on talent development. Successful leaders encourage employees to use AI and foster a culture where people feel comfortable using it. In this way, employees can learn how to use AI appropriately while understanding its risks.

The third is technology, particularly the infrastructure needed to support AI adoption. The leading group has developed platforms that enable AI to be integrated with their existing systems. They have also established systematic processes to ensure the quality of input data, which is essential for obtaining high-quality responses from AI.

The final point is security. The leading group is keen to strengthen its security measures as criminal groups use AI to launch increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, undermining the effectiveness of existing countermeasures. These evolving threats call for an organization-wide approach to security.

Nishikawa says that concerns over data security were the most frequently cited barrier to AI implementation in the survey.

“Security tends to be treated as a technical problem, but the results show that it should be addressed as a management issue. It is key to enhancing corporate value and competitiveness,” Nishikawa added.

Naturally, Fujitsu views the four elements described above — “Strategy,” “People,” “Technology,” and “Security”— as key to driving AI-driven transformation and is actively advancing initiatives in these areas.

A company-wide AI initiative launched in 2025 is one example of Fujitsu’s efforts in the “People” area. The initiative aims to enable every employee to use AI effectively.

One of the significant examples is a dashboard introduced to visualize trends in various metrics, including the number of employees using generative AI and AI agents, overtime hours, and the number of business tasks created with AI. The data is updated in real time, allowing employees to assess quantitatively how AI is being used and its impact on their work.

The AI Award Case Competition is a new initiative that encourages employees to share and learn from the knowledge and skills they have developed through their use of AI. More than 220 cases were submitted to the competition in March 2026, presenting their best practices for using AI and sharing them across the company.

Thanks to these initiatives, approximately 100,000 employees — nearly the entire workforce — were using AI at Fujitsu as of June 2026. Fujitsu intends to share the knowledge and best practices gained through these initiatives with its customers.

Each year, Fujitsu presents the results of its global survey and analysis in its annual publication, “Fujitsu Technology and Service Vision.”

The 2026 edition features the concept of dynamic transformation, in which people and AI work together through a cycle of experimentation and learning, as they work to reform management and operations.

Nishikawa says it is clear that both the business environment and technology will change at an accelerating pace. “The key to business success lies in how people and AI work together to drive a cycle of transformation and renewal,” he says.

Fujitsu will combine the insights gained from its own initiatives with its expertise to work with customers and drive the transition to an AI-driven future.

The Fujitsu Technology and Service Vision 2026 provides detailed survey results and insights into how management is transforming in the age of AI. Please download the full report below to explore the findings and use them in your business.