Building the AI-Native Enterprise: West Monroe Research Reveals Growing Divide Between AI Experimentation and Enterprise Transformation

Research identifies three imperatives for building an AI-native enterprise based on a survey of 417 U.S. business leaders

CHICAGO, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- West Monroe, an AI-native global consulting firm, today released Building the AI-Native Enterprise, new research examining how organizations are progressing from AI adoption to enterprise transformation. Based on market research and a survey of 417 U.S. business leaders, the report identifies three major imperatives for organizations to become more AI-native.

The research also introduces West Monroe's Enterprise AI Transformation Index, a new benchmark that measures organizations' progress toward becoming AI-native. Grounded in West Monroe's own experience becoming an AI-native firm, the index captures the capabilities, behaviors, and decisions that help organizations accelerate AI transformation. The findings show AI maturity is accelerating but reveal significant differences in how organizations are translating AI investments into measurable business value.

The research findings point to three imperatives for organizations building an AI-native enterprise:

• Make AI the New Operating Layer: Organizations are doing more to build the technology, data, and governance foundation needed to scale AI across the enterprise: 58% say AI connects across their business. Yet 40% are still layering AI onto legacy infrastructure rather than redesigning it for AI.
• Bridge the AI ROI Divide: Organizations are increasingly measuring AI's impact, but translating investment into enterprise value is uneven: 54% report faster decision-making, 51% report cost reductions, and 42% report new revenue opportunities. Yet only 36% measure AI success by revenue growth, underscoring the gap between operational gains and business transformation.
• Rewrite the Org Chart: AI leaders are redesigning work, while others are simply layering AI onto existing ways of working: 42% of organizations are redesigning their businesses around faster, cross-functional, AI-enabled teams. Another 26% are using AI to maintain or increase output with fewer employees.

"Most companies are focused on deploying AI tools. The companies pulling ahead are redesigning how work gets done to take advantage of the unique scale, speed and access to data that AI creates," said Bret Greenstein, Chief AI Officer at West Monroe and co-author of the report. "Competitive advantage happens when companies transform how they work"

Alongside the report, West Monroe launched the AI Enterprise Strategy Agent on WestMonroe.ai, the firm's AI-powered platform for business strategy agents which was recently featured in Business Insider for rethinking how consulting value is delivered. The new agent helps leaders apply the report's insights to their own organization.

"The biggest opportunity with AI isn't raw efficiency. It's acceleration to value," said Erik Brown, senior partner in West Monroe's Technology & Experience practice and co-author of the report.  "The companies pulling ahead are using AI to make better decisions, act with speed, measure results and improve. It creates a very compressed cycle if it's done right."

Beyond the three imperatives, the research identifies three cross-cutting pressures shaping every organization's AI journey: the accelerating pace of change, increasing regulatory complexity across markets, and growing trust and infrastructure constraints. Together, these outside influences are redefining how organizations scale AI across the enterprise.

The report builds on West Monroe's reputation for leading the consulting industry in AI adoption and translating its AI-native transformation into results for clients. Its leadership has earned industry recognition, with West Monroe named Overall AI Consulting Firm of the Year by AI Breakthrough and Chief AI Officer Bret Greenstein, co-author of the report, awarded multiple AI leadership recognition for AI transformations in 2026.

Download Building the AI-Native Enterprise here: https://www.westmonroe.com/insights/building-the-ai-native-enterprise  

About West Monroe

West Monroe is an AI-native global consulting firm built for today's pace of change. We combine deep industry expertise with modern technology and business transformation capabilities to help organizations move faster and deliver measurable impact with speed to value and certainty of results through execution excellence. We don't just talk about what's possible—we apply AI and technology where it matters most, pairing strategic insights with hands-on execution to help clients move from strategy to results, faster.

Clients tell us we show up differently. Our employee ownership model fuels an all-in approach grounded in practical execution, measurable impact, and lasting partnership. That commitment has earned recognition from Forbes and Business Insider and made West Monroe one of only 22 companies recognized worldwide for building high-quality careers.

See what's possible at westmonroe.com.

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SOURCE West Monroe