As Canada moves to close its national AI adoption gap, new research from BDO Canada finds nearly half (46%) of Canadian business leaders are experimenting with AI without achieving meaningful ROI.
Only 18% are actively embedding AI into workflows and operations, according to BDO Canada’s AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work. BDO says the findings point to a second-stage challenge for Canadian organizations: identifying the readiness gaps that limit value, then building the governance, workforce capability and operating discipline needed to scale AI responsibly. For business leaders, this is a movement away from number of pilots, to whether those efforts are improving decisions, managing risk and creating measurable value.
AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work explores how organizations can move beyond isolated AI pilots toward governed, enterprise-wide adoption. It outlines how leaders can connect AI initiatives to clear business outcomes, accountable decision-making, and measurable value as AI moves from stand-alone productivity tools into more integrated, multi-step workflows.
The report also found that 27% of Canadian business leaders believe AI will have minimal impact on their organization over the next four years–a finding BDO says may point to a visibility gap as AI becomes increasingly embedded into enterprise software, workflows and decision-support systems.
From adoption to responsible scale
BDO says organizations need to scale AI in a way that creates measurable value, manages risk and helps people adapt to new ways of working.
The findings come as businesses begin preparing for agentic AI systems that can support multi-step work, coordinate information across platforms and move teams toward more integrated workflows.
As these capabilities become more common, BDO says organizations will need to treat AI as an operating-model change, not simply a technology deployment. Scaling safely and effectively will require clear governance, ownership, workforce enablement, adoption planning and measurement tied to business outcomes.
According to Gartner, by 2028, one-third of enterprise software applications are expected to include agentic AI capabilities, up from less than 1% in 2024. BDO says this shift will put greater pressure on organizations to build the foundations for responsible scale now, including governance, workforce fluency, workflow integration, and measurement tied to business outcomes.
Informed by BDO’s own AI adoption journey
BDO’s perspective is informed by its own AI adoption journey across its national firm, including the firm’s Client Zero approach to testing, learning, and scaling AI responsibly within its own operations. Through investment in workforce enablement, governed experimentation, workflow integration, and responsible AI practices, BDO has developed practical lessons that inform its work with clients.
Read BDO Canada’s AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work.
About the report
AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work is a BDO Canada report examining how Canadian organizations can move from AI experimentation to responsible, enterprise-wide adoption. The report draws on survey of 520 Canadian business leaders who are members of the Angus Reid Forum commissioned by BDO Canada, along with BDO’s experience helping clients connect AI initiatives to business outcomes, governance, workforce readiness and measurable value.
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This entry was posted on June 25, 2026 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags BDO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Nearly half of Canadian business leaders stuck in AI experimentation without meaningful ROI, BDO finds
As Canada moves to close its national AI adoption gap, new research from BDO Canada finds nearly half (46%) of Canadian business leaders are experimenting with AI without achieving meaningful ROI.
Only 18% are actively embedding AI into workflows and operations, according to BDO Canada’s AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work. BDO says the findings point to a second-stage challenge for Canadian organizations: identifying the readiness gaps that limit value, then building the governance, workforce capability and operating discipline needed to scale AI responsibly. For business leaders, this is a movement away from number of pilots, to whether those efforts are improving decisions, managing risk and creating measurable value.
AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work explores how organizations can move beyond isolated AI pilots toward governed, enterprise-wide adoption. It outlines how leaders can connect AI initiatives to clear business outcomes, accountable decision-making, and measurable value as AI moves from stand-alone productivity tools into more integrated, multi-step workflows.
The report also found that 27% of Canadian business leaders believe AI will have minimal impact on their organization over the next four years–a finding BDO says may point to a visibility gap as AI becomes increasingly embedded into enterprise software, workflows and decision-support systems.
From adoption to responsible scale
BDO says organizations need to scale AI in a way that creates measurable value, manages risk and helps people adapt to new ways of working.
The findings come as businesses begin preparing for agentic AI systems that can support multi-step work, coordinate information across platforms and move teams toward more integrated workflows.
As these capabilities become more common, BDO says organizations will need to treat AI as an operating-model change, not simply a technology deployment. Scaling safely and effectively will require clear governance, ownership, workforce enablement, adoption planning and measurement tied to business outcomes.
According to Gartner, by 2028, one-third of enterprise software applications are expected to include agentic AI capabilities, up from less than 1% in 2024. BDO says this shift will put greater pressure on organizations to build the foundations for responsible scale now, including governance, workforce fluency, workflow integration, and measurement tied to business outcomes.
Informed by BDO’s own AI adoption journey
BDO’s perspective is informed by its own AI adoption journey across its national firm, including the firm’s Client Zero approach to testing, learning, and scaling AI responsibly within its own operations. Through investment in workforce enablement, governed experimentation, workflow integration, and responsible AI practices, BDO has developed practical lessons that inform its work with clients.
Read BDO Canada’s AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work.
About the report
AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work is a BDO Canada report examining how Canadian organizations can move from AI experimentation to responsible, enterprise-wide adoption. The report draws on survey of 520 Canadian business leaders who are members of the Angus Reid Forum commissioned by BDO Canada, along with BDO’s experience helping clients connect AI initiatives to business outcomes, governance, workforce readiness and measurable value.
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This entry was posted on June 25, 2026 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags BDO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.