What Is Holding Up AI Adoption for Businesses? New EPAM Study Reveals Key Findings

From modernizing outdated technology to implementing responsible AI governance, report examines the key factors driving enterprise AI success in 2025 and beyond

NEWTOWN, Pa., April 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM), a leading digital transformation and services and product engineering company, today announced the release of its AI research report, "From Hype to Impact: How Enterprises Can Unlock Real Business Value with AI." The report, based on a survey of 7,300 participants across nine countries and eight industries, examines the current state of AI adoption, challenges and opportunities for businesses looking to generate tangible business value from AI investments.

The study reveals a notable disconnect between perception and reality in enterprise AI adoption among respondents from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore and Argentina. Nearly half (49%) of respondents rated their companies as "advanced" in AI implementation, with 5% identifying as "disruptors," 32% as "competent" and 14% as "beginners." However, only 26% of those who self-identified as advanced companies and disruptors have successfully delivered AI use cases to market.

"Following the release of ChatGPT and throughout 2023 and 2024, we witnessed companies across industries experiment with AI and develop proofs of concept, primarily targeting immediate gains in productivity improvements and operational efficiencies," said Elaina Shekhter, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, EPAM. "This new research clearly shows that we're now entering a new phase where success depends on identifying high-value use cases and prioritizing them strategically to achieve broad organizational impact. Enterprises that can effectively align their talent, data and technology around these priority use cases will be the ones that actually deploy AI to scale and capture business value from their AI investments in 2025 and beyond."

Key findings from the report include:

• Acceleration of AI investments: Companies plan to increase their AI spending by 14% year-over-year in 2025, signalling a continued commitment to AI-driven growth.
  
  
• Scaling AI remains a challenge: While 30% of technology-advanced companies have successfully implemented AI at scale, many organizations struggle to bridge the gap between experimentation and enterprise-wide deployment.
  
  
• AI's direct impact on business: Disruptors attribute 53% of their expected 2025 profits to AI investments, which demonstrates a tangible financial impact for the market leaders.
  
  
• Governance and security trail AI growth: Businesses anticipate a minimum of 18 months to implement effective AI governance models, highlighting the complexity of aligning AI with the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.
  
  
• AI talent remains a priority: 43% of all companies surveyed plan to hire AI-related roles throughout 2025, with machine learning engineers and AI researchers being the most in-demand positions.

"Improved productivity and operational efficiency are universal goals, but true transformation lies in bridging the gap between tech teams and the business," said Dmitry Tovpeko, VP, Engineering, EPAM. "As AI reshapes the enterprise, developers are evolving from task-oriented users to strategic experts, responsibly harnessing AI for end-to-end scenarios. Success hinges not on tech stacks or cloud infrastructure, but on aligning tech teams with business objectives to solve real-world customer problems."

To realize the full potential of AI, the report highlights the importance of aligning people, data and technology to unlock real business value and identifies four critical areas for the successful adoption of AI:

1. People, processes and culture: Effective AI implementation requires strong executive leadership that clearly articulates priorities and focus areas. In fact, the data reveals that 65% of disruptors understand the necessary skills for AI adoption.
   
   
2. Business and technology modernization: While 31% of executives see outdated technology as a barrier to AI adoption, the real challenge is the lack of alignment between business and technical teams. Once a clear organizational purpose is established and communicated, engineering teams can then map out a modernization strategy.
   
   
3. Security: Security remains a universal priority for senior executives and engineering teams, particularly regarding data protection, data quality and cloud security, with 35% of businesses saying their top challenge to achieving modernization is their lack of sophisticated security programs.
   
   
4. Governance and responsible AI: While 75% of advanced companies claim to have established clear AI strategies, only 4% of disruptors say they have developed comprehensive governance frameworks even with the understanding that effective governance is typically 18 months away.

According to Forrester, in its Predictions 2025: Artificial Intelligence report, 2025 will bring a renewed focus on strategy, deepened partnerships between business and IT, a pivot back to predictive AI, and new technologies and architectures as enterprises govern data and AI together.

"In 2023, the race to harness AI saw many experimenting, but a select group of pioneers emerged, transforming bold ideas into scalable realities," said Nir Kaldero, Chief AI Officer, EPAM NEORIS. "These leaders see challenges as opportunities, regulations as non-negotiables and uncharted territories as spaces for innovation. The next phase of AI is not just experimentation but deployment at scale—focusing on enterprise-wide, high-impact use cases while continuing the effort to align people and culture, data and cloud and new processes to unlock true exponential business value."

The report concludes that organizations must now align AI with their business objectives rather than adapting business goals to fit AI capabilities. Success in this new phase requires companies to evolve beyond implementing AI solely for productivity gains and operational efficiencies. To gain a competitive advantage, forward-thinking enterprises must leverage AI strategically across their entire value chain to drive revenue growth and enhance customer experience.

The full report includes detailed insights and practical recommendations for enterprises at different stages of their AI journey.

To read the full 2025 Artificial Intelligence Report, visit: www.epam.com/ai-report-2025.

Methodology
The data published in this report is based on a survey of 7,300 respondents from enterprises with headcounts of 10,000+ evenly split across the C-Suite and Vice President level as well as engineers and developers spanning nine countries (the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore and Argentina) and eight industries (financial services, life sciences and MedTech, education and business information services, energy, retail and consumer product goods, telco, media and entertainment, insurance, automotive and manufacturing). The survey was conducted between October 24, 2024 and December 3, 2024. Survey data was collected in partnership with Censuswide.

About EPAM Systems
Since 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM) has used its software engineering expertise to become a leading global provider of digital engineering, cloud and AI-enabled transformation services, and a leading business and experience consulting partner for global enterprises and ambitious startups. We address our clients' transformation challenges by focusing EPAM Continuum's integrated strategy, experience and technology consulting with our 30+ years of engineering execution to speed our clients' time to market and drive greater value from their innovations and digital investments.

We leverage AI and GenAI to deliver transformative solutions that accelerate our clients' digital innovation and enhance their competitive edge. Through platforms like EPAM AI/RUN™ and initiatives like DIALX Lab, we integrate advanced AI technologies into tailored business strategies, driving significant industry impact and fostering continuous innovation.

We deliver globally but engage locally with our expert teams of consultants, architects, designers and engineers, making the future real for our clients, our partners, and our people around the world. We believe the right solutions are the ones that improve people's lives and fuel competitive advantage for our clients across diverse industries. Our thinking comes to life in the experiences, products and platforms we design and bring to market.

Added to the S&P 500 and the Forbes Global 2000 in 2021 and recognized by Glassdoor and Newsweek as Most Loved Workplace, our multidisciplinary teams serve customers across six continents. We are proud to be among the top 15 companies in Information Technology Services in the Fortune 1000 and to be recognized as a leader in the IDC MarketScapes for Worldwide Experience Build Services, Worldwide Experience Design Services and Worldwide Software Engineering Services.

Learn more at www.epam.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes estimates and statements which may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Our estimates and forward-looking statements are mainly based on our current expectations and estimates of future events and trends, which affect or may affect our business and operations. These statements may include words such as "may," "will," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate" or similar expressions. Those future events and trends may relate to, among other things, developments relating to the war in Ukraine and escalation of the war in the surrounding region, political and civil unrest or military action in the geographies where we conduct business and operate, difficult conditions in global capital markets, foreign exchange markets and the broader economy, and the effect that these events may have on client demand and our revenues, operations, access to capital, and profitability. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions, the risk factors discussed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and the factors discussed in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, particularly under the headings "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe that these estimates and forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, they are subject to several risks and uncertainties and are made based on information currently available to us. EPAM undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities law.

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