Microsoft and IDC outline what top AI performers do differently

Summary

On November 12, Microsoft published the fourth installment of IDC research it commissions, based on responses from more than 5,200 senior leaders across 28 industries. Frontier Firms, the top 10% on IDC's AI maturity scale, report an average 4x return on AI versus 2.7x for the bottom 30%, and 96% of them are rolling out agents at scale. Across all organizations, however, only 61% are highly confident they can measure AI's business value, and 36% are still piloting agents. The return figures are leader-reported, and the article itself notes the research shows association rather than cause.

Why it matters for our work

The core takeaway is that firms managing measurement, governance, and organization-wide skilling as one system turn early AI results into repeatable value. That 80% of Frontier Firms have an org-wide AI skilling strategy, versus 20% overall, signals that people, not tools, are the next bottleneck.

Translated from the Korean original. Summaries may be translated and edited. Commentary reflects our perspective; forecasts remain the source’s views.