Four Traits Set Top AI Adopters Apart

Forrester analysts say customer focus, CEO leadership, data readiness and workforce AI skills distinguish companies that adopt AI most effectively.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of stacked cardboard boxes, a brass key, and a sprouting seedling on a plinth before a city-skyline window, evoking the traits of effective AI adoption. — Forrester analysts say customer focus, CEO leadership, data readiness and workforce AI skills separate companies that adopt AI most effectively, based on a survey of 1,500 decision-makers. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Forrester analysts outlined four traits that distinguish high AI adopters at the company's Technology & Innovation Forum East in New York. The findings draw on its April report, Accelerate Your AI Voyage, which surveyed 1,500 AI decision-makers and interviewed companies.

Why it matters

Scaling AI across a business requires teams to work toward shared goals and fund needs that span departments, not just isolated pilot projects. The traits offer a benchmark for companies deciding where to direct AI investment.

Forrester's survey of 1,500 AI decision-makers found that high adopters are 1.3 times more likely to focus on customer experience and twice as likely to test applicants' AI skills. Forrester suggests a customer-to-internal AI use case ratio of at least 1-to-1, with 1.5-to-1 or higher signaling stronger customer focus.

The players

Forrester

Forrester is a global research and advisory firm whose analysts publish technology market research and adoption benchmarks for enterprises.

DBS Bank

DBS Bank is a Singapore-headquartered multinational bank cited as an example of AI-driven personalized customer financial guidance.

The details

Forrester identified customer focus, CEO leadership, data and platform readiness, and workforce AI skills as the core traits. Companies can gauge customer focus by dividing AI use cases that create customer value by those aimed at internal gains, while high adopters invest in AI literacy and training for existing staff. DBS Bank in Singapore offers personalized financial guidance and asks customers whether suggestions help them.

April 2026: Forrester publishes the Accelerate Your AI Voyage report.
2024 to 2025: Workforce AI readiness measures improve only slightly.
November 5, 2026: Forrester's Technology & Innovation Forum East keynote is held in New York.

Roadmap

Forrester's April survey extends its recurring AI adoption benchmarking by moving from measuring adoption rates toward identifying the organizational traits behind stronger results. The framework signals that competitive advantage in enterprise AI is shifting from access to models toward how firms organize customer focus, data and skills.

Business leaders can use the customer-to-internal use case ratio to audit whether their AI projects serve customers or only internal efficiency. Employees may increasingly face AI skills assessments in hiring, making AI literacy a practical career consideration.

The takeaway

Companies seeking stronger AI returns should weigh whether their projects create customer value alongside internal gains. Building shared funding and goals across departments appears to matter as much as the technology itself.