Although the recruitment of artificial intelligence Although the tool is becoming increasingly popular with enterprises, intensive use of this tool remains rare. In fact, in the last four months of 2025, 70% of the world’s businesses euro area Although they used AI, only 7% used it intensively. The majority used it moderately or sporadically.
This was revealed in an analysis published on the European Central Bank’s blog. The data is based on the results of the ECB’s SAFE survey of more than 5,000 companies.
AI and business
The spread of artificial intelligence shows no signs of slowing down, and in fact, almost half of euro area companies that were not already using artificial intelligence in 2025 say they plan to invest in the sector in 2026, according to Safer. However, the ECB notes that while the use of AI is often seen as synonymous with improving productivity, the mere adoption of these tools does not automatically guarantee measurable improvements in production processes.
As stated in the study, it is rather how they are used that is important. It is their intensive use, especially in the areas of innovation and expansion of products and services, rather than just peripheral tasks or routine tasks, that contributes to increasing productivity and promoting economic growth.
Who is deploying AI and why?
As the analysis shows, it is the size rather than the “age” of a company that is associated with widespread use of AI, although intensive use is statistically more common in small and medium-sized enterprises and young companies (those less than 10 years old). Finally, at the sectoral level, the tight integration of these tools is mainly found in knowledge-intensive services, especially in the ICT (information and communication technology) sector.
