A year ago, most chief product officers were still testing Gen AI with cautious curiosity. Today, nearly all say the technology will reshape how they work. But beneath the near-unanimous optimism lies a split that may determine who reaps the rewards: some industries are surging ahead, while others hesitate, and no single AI provider has yet claimed dominance.
The latest PYMNTS Intelligence report, From Experiment to Imperative: U.S. Product Leaders Bet on Gen AI, captures this pivot. Based on a June 2025 survey of 60 chief product officers and heads of product at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue, the study finds 98% of leaders now expect generative AI to streamline workflows, up from 70% last year. Nearly as many (95%) anticipate sharper decision making. Even data security, once a sticking point, is now viewed as a likely area of improvement by 83%, compared with just half a year ago.
But the survey also underscores the distance between perception and reality, particularly in areas like fraud detection and compliance.
- 87% of product leaders now expect AI to improve fraud detection, up from 62% in March 2024. Yet many admit the real-world tools are still in early stages, with limited benchmarks for accuracy.
- 85% forecast better regulatory compliance, a leap from 47% a year earlier. Still, only a minority have deployed AI deeply enough to know whether those expectations hold.
- 83% anticipate stronger data security, even though security experts continue to warn that large language models introduce new vectors for attack and data leakage.
This mismatch suggests executives are projecting optimism faster than the technology can deliver. Fraud, compliance and security may be where confidence runs highest, but also where disappointment could sting most.
Fragmented Faith in Providers
The underplayed story in the data may be that no single AI company is in command. Half of tech firms named OpenAI their top provider, but only a third of goods firms and just 5% of services companies agreed. Microsoft leads among service firms at 24%, followed by Nvidia and Google at 19% apiece. Google shows the most balanced cross-sector traction but still fails to reach even a third of the market.
This patchwork of loyalties underscores a critical uncertainty: even as adoption surges, corporate America hasn’t settled on which vendor, or which approach, will anchor enterprise AI. That lack of consensus keeps the market wide open, but also raises questions about long-term standards, integration costs and the risk of backing the wrong horse.
The report also highlights other expected gains. Ninety-three percent of leaders now see AI as improving customer experience, up from 70% in March 2024. Nearly all (97%) expect stronger adaptability to market shifts. And 93% forecast AI will help them expand their businesses.
What started with small-scale pilots is now being cast as enterprise-critical strategy. Yet as the report makes clear, the story is not simply about enthusiasm.
It is about the divides: between sectors racing ahead and those holding back, between confidence in fraud prevention and the reality of early tools, and between vendors vying for a future that remains unsettled. The next phase of generative AI may not hinge on whether companies adopt it, but on who defines the terms of its success.
Source: https://www.pymnts.com/