Core Summary

  • A recent report by KPMG shows that U.S. companies spend an average of $190 million annually on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, higher than the global average of $174 million.
  • Over the past 12 months, U.S. companies achieved an average financial return of $293 million, higher than the global average of $265 million; however, technological maturity remains insufficient, with only 10% of companies stating that their technology deployments are "fully scaled and continuously evolving," down from 25% last year.
  • Marcus Murph, KPMG's U.S. Technology Consulting Leader, said in a press release: "The survey data shows that scaling investments in emerging technologies is taking longer than initially expected."

In-Depth Analysis

KPMG's report comes as companies worldwide accelerate their adoption of emerging technologies. In a January report, Paris-based technology consulting firm Capgemini predicted that in 2026, organizations globally will allocate an average of 5% of their annual budgets to AI projects, up from 3% in 2025. Capgemini noted in the report: "As AI transitions from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, organizations face the new challenge of converting rapid advances in AI capabilities into sustained business impact." The report stated that over the next 12 months, companies plan to increase investments in infrastructure, data, governance, and employee upskilling, aiming to build a solid foundation for "sustainable AI adoption."

KPMG found that U.S. companies, in particular, plan to surpass global peers in 2026 across multiple technology areas, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data/analytics, and "post-quantum cryptography"—a new form of digital encryption designed to prevent future quantum computers from cracking data.

Although U.S. companies are broadly expanding emerging technologies, few have reached full operational maturity. KPMG's report states that only 10% of companies describe their technology implementations as "fully scaled and continuously evolving," a significant drop from 25% last year. More than half (56%) of respondents said that the cost of fixing technical debt hinders their investment in new technology projects.

Gary Plotkin, KPMG's U.S. Digital Platforms Leader, pointed out that the survey results show companies are finding technology projects far more complex than expected, especially in areas of data modernization, security, and accuracy. Plotkin said in KPMG's press release: "This complexity has led to a cautious adoption approach, particularly in core business functions, as companies are unsure whether the technology is mature enough to support large-scale deployment."

KPMG's report, based on a survey of executives at companies worldwide, reflects the common challenge of transitioning emerging technology investments from "experimental" to "scaled." Although U.S. companies lead in investment and returns, the bottleneck of technological maturity suggests that simply increasing budgets is not enough to achieve full transformation; companies need to simultaneously strengthen efforts in technical debt management, talent reserves, and governance frameworks.