A successful AI pilot doesn’t mean your AI strategy is working

Launching an AI pilot is relatively straightforward. But integrating it reliably and at scale into business operations is a far greater challenge. McKinsey’s global 2026 survey found that only 37% of respondents said AI had improved their company’s earnings, unchanged from the previous year. Yet eight in ten said AI had helped them become more productive at work.

An AI tool may work well during a small test, when the task is simple and the data is clean. But using…