Enterprise AI Finds Its Firmest Footing in Security and Treasury
For all the attention paid to enterprise artificial intelligence strategy, adoption is not spreading evenly across the organization. According to findings shared in the August 2026 edition of The Enterprise AI Benchmark Report, a PYMNTS Intelligence original, the most important dividing line may not be industry, budget or even executive enthusiasm. Instead, AI appears to […] The post Enterprise…
Enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) is finding its strongest foothold in security and treasury functions, according to findings from The Enterprise AI Benchmark Report. This trend is due to these functions already having structured data, technical ownership, and measurable outcomes. Among surveyed firms, 95% of financial services firms, 84% of healthcare firms, and 81% of media firms have reached a deeper level of AI adoption in data and technology.
Payments and finance show a more uneven distribution, with 90% of financial services firms, 63% of healthcare firms, and 43% of media firms having scaled AI tools in these areas. The most common applications of AI in data and technology functions are security monitoring (77%), infrastructure optimization (68%), and data ingestion and cleansing (68%).
AI governance tooling is also at 63% adoption. These applications are well-suited for machine-assisted decision-making, as they allow for easy comparison of pre- and post-AI performance. Financial services firms are particularly well-positioned for AI transition, with 90% having scaled AI tools in payments and finance. Healthcare firms lag behind at 63%, and media firms trail at 43%.
The success of AI deployment depends not only on the technology's potential but also on the maturity of the underlying business functions.
Written by urgent.news from PYMNTS's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
