BCG’s 2025 Build for the Future study, surveying 1,250 senior executives and AI decision-makers across nine industries and more than 25 sectors, finds that only about 5% of companies are generating value from AI at scale and nearly 60% report little or no impact so far. Only 22% have advanced beyond proof of concept and just 4% are creating substantial value. BCG estimates that roughly 10% of AI value comes from the algorithms, 20% from the implementation technology, and the remaining 70% from redesigning how people work. Future-built companies plan to upskill more than 50% of their employees on AI, compared with 20% at laggards, and are four times more likely to run structured AI learning programmes and protect employee time for learning. A separate AI at Work 2025 survey of more than 10,600 workers across 11 countries reinforces the finding that mainstream AI adoption has not yet produced business value without workflow redesign and training. The report argues that continued investment in AI tooling without an equivalent investment in people will keep most organisations stuck in the adoption phase, and is directly relevant to the case for employer-side AI training obligations (dimensions 6 and 7 in the Fix the AI Gap scoring model).