Business Use Cases for AI Have Doubled Since 2024
The number of business projects involving artificial intelligence has more than doubled since 2024, as companies put proven pilots into production and pursue experiments with business-specific initiatives, according to new research from Information Services Group (ISG).
The study found that 31 percent of companies deploying AI have brought at least one of their three-most-funded use cases into production, more than double the share that had done so in 2024.
Companies are gradually shifting their AI efforts from efficiency to high-value functions that support business growth, ISG says, noting that CRM automation, sales enablement, forecasting, and lead capture have become leading use cases in 2025.
The ISG research also found that only one in four initiatives is meeting expectations for revenue impact, and many have so far failed to produce broad cost savings.
Among the companies that are working with AI, most are leveraging the technology to recognize patterns and predict outcomes while layering in generative and agentic AI tools as their organizations’ data readiness and governance improve.
“Companies are investing in the areas of AI that are demonstrating near-term results but also experimenting with a broader range of use cases,” says Steve Hall, chief AI officer at ISG. “The variety of AI use cases that are unique to companies’ industry and data contexts shows just how much opportunity there is.”
Organizations are going live with AI at higher rates in compliance, risk management, and quality control. The focus for these AI use cases is to strengthen established processes rather than target revenue growth and cost reduction, according to ISG.
The rise of autonomous AI agents is also reshaping how companies think about the cost of AI, the firm says.
And as traditional pricing models leave clients struggling to connect price with value, the report proposes a new framework that prices AI services by their level of autonomy, so charges reflect how work is done, not just what is delivered.
“By classifying services according to their intelligence and independence, this autonomy-level pricing framework delivers clarity and fairness to the market,” Hall says. “ISG expects this model to define how AI services are contracted so businesses can benefit from increasing automation as AI technology continues to progress.”
Successful AI deployment still depends on core elements that companies must get right before bringing pilots to production, the research found.
To achieve business value, companies need to coordinate the platforms that power model development, the software that embeds AI, and the services that connect them. What matters more than the presence of any one layer is how effectively they work together, the report says.
“AI is still in its early innings,” Hall says. “The core technologies enterprises are scaling today are less than five years old, and agentic AI has been in the market for just 15 months.
“Few technologies have gone from early commercial availability to full production, delivering measurable value as fast as AI,” he says. “Organizations have embraced rapid experimentation and have been rewarded for their efforts.”
Customers Swayed by Brand Posts but Don’t Follow Through
Findings highlight a gap between social media influence and direct sales.
While 98 percent of consumers encounter products or services on social media, and 78 percent say they’re influenced by brand content, only 15 percent actually complete purchases directly on these platforms, Clutch reveals in a new report.
This gap highlights the tension between brand visibility and conversion, prompting marketers to rethink how social media fits into the sales funnel, the firm found.
“Marketers are doing the hard part by earning attention and trust, but there’s still friction at the final step,” says Anna Peck, who oversees marketing content at Clutch. “Social platforms are powerful for building brand awareness, but their path to purchase isn’t always seamless.”
According to Clutch, Facebook and YouTube are the most used platforms, with 73 percent visiting weekly, followed by Instagram (58 percent) and TikTok (39 percent). YouTube leads product research, with 49 percent using it as a visual search engine for tutorials and long-form content.
For direct purchases, consumers most often turn to Facebook (59 percent) and TikTok (53 percent), favoring native shopping features and seamless in-app checkouts, it says.
Clutch also found that consumers respond to authentic content to build trust, but companies need scale to drive purchases.
“Brands see the strongest results when they boost top-performing organic posts or creator content as ads, keeping social proof intact,” Peck states. “Organic drives results, but more gradually. Paid delivers faster and at scale once the creative clicks.”
To succeed in social commerce, Peck urges companies to go beyond visibility by crafting platform-specific content, reinforcing trust at every stage, and removing friction from discovery to checkout.