In this article we discuss:

• The Anatomy of an Outperformer

• It’s Not Just the Tech—It’s the People

• Bridging the Gap

While many organizations are still drafting AI roadmaps, a small group of outperformers—an elite group of 53 companies—has already cracked the code. New research from Workday reveals these leaders are generating 5 times more value than the average organization.

Our survey includes responses from over 1,440 individuals across 921 organizations in North America and EMEA, highlighting how some companies are swimming in AI value while others are barely treading water. The secret isn't just better tools, but a specific set of behaviors and organizational changes that turn AI into a $16.3 million-a-year engine for savings. 

To find the truth behind the hype, Workday tracked a year of actual usage and mapped it against each company's bottom line. The findings were stark: the top 53 performers didn't just use more technology; they mastered five specific shifts—ranging from how leaders champion change to how they manage data.

The takeaway? AI success isn't just about what you buy. It’s about how your people and processes evolve to meet it. For those who get the culture right, the financial rewards are already scaling.

The Anatomy of an Outperformer

Out of the 921 organizations surveyed, 53 emerged as companies operating on a different plane of efficiency, achieving incredible savings. These teams are capturing value and savings in three key areas:

• Driving growth and profit: Top-performing companies generated $6.3 million by using Workday AI to sharpen their financial oversight. This included using AI-powered insights to fix billing errors and catch unbudgeted or wasteful spending before it even happened.

• Cutting technology costs: Organizations saved $4.2 million by retiring old, expensive legacy systems and letting a single AI platform do the heavy lifting. By consolidating their tech, these teams slashed the total cost of ownership and eliminated the need for pricey third-party consulting fees.

• Boosting team productivity: Leading organizations reclaimed $5.8 million by completing essential tasks faster. These efficiencies allowed them to fill open job roles in record time and close their financial books more quickly than ever before.

For a typical organization of 4,000 employees, those gains aren’t theoretical. The study shows that simply activating specific AI capabilities can translate into bankable returns:

• Finance efficiency: Organizations adopting tools like Journal Insights see a 37% higher efficiency ratio—equivalent to $1 million in annual benefit.

• Succession planning: Companies using AI to identify and develop future leaders are 94% more likely to report successful outcomes, representing about $1.2 million in annual impact.

• HR support: Deploying AI assistants to handle employee questions reduces case volume by 1.3x, unlocking approximately $550,000 in yearly savings.

It’s Not Just the Tech—It’s the People

If the findings make one thing clear, it's that AI success hinges more on people than tools. The study's five maturity pillars focus not on technical sophistication, but on leadership, skills, governance, and change readiness—the human conditions that turn AI into an advantage.

1. Sponsorship: The CEO as a Change Agent 

When bosses actively support AI and encourage their teams to change how they work, the technology actually gets used. In fact, when leaders showed just a small increase in this kind of support, their companies saw a 33% jump in how many AI features their employees adopted. 

2. Governance and Risk: The "Goldilocks" Balance 

About 30% of companies say that worries about security and privacy are the biggest roadblocks to AI success. The most successful companies address these concerns by using a "Goldilocks" model. These companies create rules that aren't too strict or too loose. They're strong enough to keep data safe but flexible enough that employees can actually use the tools to get work done. This balanced approach helps them get 1.2x more value in HR and 1.4x more value in finance than the average company

3. Operational Readiness: The Clean Data Mandate 

AI is only as smart as the information you give it. Companies with high data maturity—which simply means their information is clean, organized, and easy to use—are twice as likely to hit their goals. They are also saving millions of dollars just by getting rid of old, messy systems that no longer serve them.

4. Organizational Knowledge: Turning Fear Into Focus 

When employees are afraid AI will take their jobs, they don't use it. The top 53 companies combat this with clear training and internal AI advocates. As a result, these companies see four times more value in internal hiring ($3.5 million annually) because their employees know how to use AI to find their next internal career move.

5. Strategy: Tracking the Wins

You can't manage what you don't measure. High performers create a value tracking habit, building a regular routine of checking their progress. They set metrics and stick to a schedule to ensure their investment is actually paying off in the real world.

Bridging the Gap

The massive gap between outperformers and everyone else shows that AI success comes from getting the basics right. These top organizations succeed because they don’t just buy software; they make sure their leadership, data, and strategy are ready for the technology to work. By focusing on these foundations, they’ve realized millions in annual value across business growth, tech savings, and faster operations.

The path to these results is open to any organization ready to move past basic adoption and start the work required to uncover real value. The widening gap between innovators and observers signals a necessary shift toward a workplace culture that matches the rapid pace of technological change. The most profitable decision you can make this year is to stop viewing AI as just another tool and start treating it as a new way to run your business.

Ninety-eight percent of CEOs foresee an immediate business benefit from implementing AI. Download this report to discover the potential positive impact on your company, with insights from 2,355 global leaders.