The Blueprint for AI Leadership: Research from HCLTech

While 90% of organisations say generative and agentic AI are transforming workflows, only 18% say AI is delivering significant revenue impact, exposing a critical gap between operational progress and business outcomes. 

This data comes from HCLTech’s research report The Blueprint for AI Leadership, which surveyed 500 business and IT leaders.

HCLTech labels this 18% of organisation as ‘AI leaders’ and the remaining 82% of those surveyed as ‘AI Followers’. 

AI Leaders are four times more likely to scale agentic and autonomous AI and 63% more likely to secure senior leadership sponsorship, according to the report. 

Yet, AI Followers – those “lagging enterprises” that adopt AI without gaining meaningful business value – are trapped  by evaluating AI through efficiency and cost lenses alone. 

“The gap between AI Leaders and AI Followers isn’t a single tool, model or platform decision,” explains Pawan Vadapalli, Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Digital Business Services at HCLTech.

“It’s the ability to make value real for the business, build confidence across the workforce and scale responsibly on modern foundations.”

Follow the example of the AI Leaders

AI Leaders, however, have integrated AI into business strategy, built data readiness and are ahead in workforce transformation, with 93% having structured upskilling programmes, compared to just 20% of the AI Followers. 

Nearly nine in 10 AI Leaders have an organisation-wide strategy for retraining and upskilling employees, creating a stronger foundation for adoption. More than half (54%) also encourage teams to experiment with AI tools and new ways of working. 

“Workers are often more willing to adapt than assumed, particularly when they are empowered to shape how tools are integration into their roles and can see a clear vision of how their work will evolve,” says Sebastian Reiche, Professor of People Management at IESE Business School.

“In many cases, deeper structural issues are at play.”

Plus, AI Leaders are eight times more likely to trust that their data can support gen AI efforts, showing how important confidence is to progress. 

Pawan adds: “The organisations pulling ahead are not just running more pilots; they are rethinking how the business works, embedding AI into everyday decisions and workflows. It is this coordinated shift across leadership, culture and foundations that turns AI from a tool into real, long-term advantage.”