Beyond productivity: the waves of AI impact your company must anticipate

The productivity trap

Most companies today use artificial intelligence for the same thing: automating repetitive tasks, accelerating workflows, and gaining some productivity. That's fine, it's a good first step. But according to a recent Gartner analysis, stopping there means missing the real wave while it's still building.

Gartner is direct with its diagnosis: "nearly 90% of technology leaders remain focused on generative AI initiatives applied to employees or internal processes." It's a valid approach, but limited — it produces incremental improvements, not disruption.

Real disruption arrives when AI forces entire industries to rethink value, pricing, and even the relevance of their core products. And that moment, Gartner says, is much closer than it seems — especially with the arrival of agentic systems (AI that doesn't just respond, but acts and decides).

What are the "waves of impact" of AI?

They are the second and third-order effects of AI adoption: the ones you don't see in the first quarter, but when the entire market starts to shift. In practice, this translates to:

• Products and services that become obsolete almost overnight.
• Agile competitors — often small startups — that use AI to accomplish in weeks what takes a traditional company years.
• New business models that didn't even exist two years ago.
• Transformation of roles across the entire value chain, not just in technology.

An important fact: these waves almost never originate in large corporations. They emerge at the periphery — in startups and small teams that dare to experiment without the burden of traditional structures — and from there they expand to the rest of the sector.

The window of opportunity remains open

Here's the insight that should capture the attention of any executive: less than 30% of technology leaders are driving AI initiatives ambitious enough to generate real disruption in their sector.

In other words, there's still room to move before most others do. The window isn't closed — but it won't stay open forever.

Five concrete steps to stay ahead

Gartner proposes five lines of action for companies that want to anticipate rather than react:

1. Embed AI at the core of your processes, not as a superficial layer on top of what you already do.
2. Build an AI-driven business model by integrating agentic AI into your customers' everyday experience.
3. Challenge yourself to experiment — create small projects or units to test bold ideas without risking the core business.
4. Seek strategic partnerships with startups, suppliers, and research centers that are already ahead of the curve.
5. Join open AI communities and ecosystems to learn faster and avoid reinventing the wheel.

The bottom line for your business

Generative AI is entering a phase of more realistic expectations — what Gartner calls the "trough of disillusionment" of the Hype Cycle. But that's not bad news: it's when tools mature and serious companies start to differentiate themselves from those just testing the waters.

The question is not whether AI will transform your industry. It's whether your company will be watching from the sidelines or already riding the wave when it arrives.

Based on Gartner's analysis "Waves of AI Impact: its true disruptive power goes beyond productivity" (Brook Selassie, August 28, 2025).