TCS Study: 84% See AI Productivity Gains, Only 10% Allow Autonomy

Only 10% of global enterprises allow AI agents to make decisions without human approval across multiple functions, while just 9% report that their AI agents can securely manage workflows across enterprise applications, according to a new Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) study.

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The findings highlight the gap between the productivity benefits organisations are already gaining from artificial intelligence (AI) and their readiness to give AI systems greater decision-making authority.

The TCS Enterprise AI Study: Intelligence that is Real surveyed 1,333 senior business and technology leaders across 25 countries and 12 industries. It found that 84% of executives identify productivity improvement as the leading source of value from their AI investments.

However, security, risk and governance remain the biggest considerations influencing how organisations develop and deploy AI systems, ahead of cost, speed and ease of implementation.

Security and Governance Shape Enterprise AI Adoption

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The study points to the emergence of a Human+AI operating model, in which AI moves beyond assisting employees to taking greater responsibility for business processes and decisions.

However, enterprises remain cautious about allowing AI agents to operate independently, particularly when they have access to business applications, sensitive information and decision-making processes.

Amit Kapur, Chief AI and Services Transformation Officer at TCS, said organisations are seeing significant progress in scaling AI, but concerns around security, governance and resilience are holding them back from expanding AI autonomy.

He added that deploying AI responsibly, with appropriate safeguards and enterprise controls, will be a major focus in the next phase of enterprise AI adoption.

Also Read: TCS AI Revenue Reaches $3.1 Billion, Grows 15–20% Quarterly

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The study also found that 90% of respondents consider model independence an important factor in AI investment decisions. However, only 7% reported having organisation-wide continuity plans to switch AI providers.

AI Costs, Workforce Impact and Enterprise Readiness

The survey identified several other challenges affecting enterprise AI adoption:

• AI investment returns: 39% of enterprises are still assessing whether AI initiatives deliver sufficient value relative to token and computing costs.
• Knowledge management: 44% said important business knowledge remains with employees or is scattered across fragmented documentation.
• Open-source AI: 46% reported targeted deployment of open-source AI for selected use cases.
• Workforce impact: The proportion of leaders who said it was too early to determine AI’s impact on jobs increased from 4% in 2024 to 19% in 2026.

The study also found regional differences in AI readiness. In Europe, 43% of respondents identified AI sovereignty requirements, including control over data location, model choice and compliance, as a high or very high organisational risk. The corresponding global figure was 34%.

North America showed progress in treating AI as an enterprise capability, while the UK and Ireland reported comparatively strong levels of AI continuity planning and governance integration. Tata Consultancy Services+1

The findings suggest that enterprises are moving beyond experimenting with AI towards integrating it into business operations. However, wider adoption of autonomous AI will depend on stronger governance, secure access to enterprise data, cost management and clear accountability for AI-led decisions.

About the Study

The TCS study covered 1,333 senior business and technology leaders across 25 countries and 12 industries.

Respondents included C-suite executives, divisional leaders, senior vice presidents and vice presidents from organisations with annual revenues ranging from US$500 million to more than US$20 billion.