AI’s Inflection Point: How Adoption and Markets Shifted from 2025 to 2026
The past year has marked a decisive shift in the global artificial intelligence landscape. A new report by insurance brokerage, Gallagher, details the significant evolution of the environment.
According to Gallagher’s report, the number of organisations operationalising AI rose from 45% in 2025 to 63% in 2026, marking a major increase in just one year. The most commonly adopted applications were found to include IT operations management, chatbots, client‑facing assistants, and analytics.
This increased operationalisation resulted in 86% of businesses finding that AI had a positive effect on productivity.
Despite this increase in adoption, more than half of businesses cite skills shortages as their main barrier to scaling AI. The largest perceived threats for AI adoption include:
- AI errors, misinformation and hallucinations (57%);
- Legal and reputational risks (56%); and
- Data protection and privacy violations (55%).
Although many businesses claim to deliver training on AI and implement change management programmes, fewer than half have formal AI risk frameworks or incident response plans.
The risk of AI‑related exposures is driving the emergence of new insurance endorsements, exclusions, bolt-on covers, and AI‑specific policies. 1 in 5 insurance industry professionals reported a client loss or claim due to AI-related risks in the past year.
Increased operationalisation will boost the demand for new AI infrastructure, driving up the market value of AI. According to a recent report by Business Research Insights, the global AI market is expected to reach USD 621.69 billion by 2026 and USD 4.8 trillion by 2035, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.65%.
These developments highlight both enormous opportunities and growing complexities surrounding compliance, skills, and risk management. Gallagher’s data highlights the importance of insurance considerations for AI-related risks, and of acknowledging skill shortages and perceived threats to AI adoption. Organisations that invest in people, strengthen their controls, and deploy AI strategically are likely to be best positioned to adopt AI safely.
