Companies Prioritize AI, Struggle with Expertise and Education

A new survey from ResumeBuilder found that 9 out of 10 U.S. companies would consider replacing staff with AI if the technology could handle specific tasks, signaling an accelerating shift in corporate priorities toward automation. The findings, drawn from 500 senior business leaders, reveal that companies are not merely experimenting with AI but actively reorganizing operations around it, with a similar proportion willing to accept higher employee turnover to allocate more resources to AI systems.

Meanwhile, Deloitte's State of AI in the Enterprise 2026 report highlights a parallel trend in India: Indian companies lead their global peers in large-scale AI deployment, with at-scale adoption strongest in product development (62%), strategy and operations (56%), and marketing and sales (55%). However, the report reveals a critical expertise gap: only 0-4% of Indian companies possess a high level of AI expertise, compared to a global average of 2-8%. Despite this, 94% of Indian organizations expect their AI budgets to increase over the next year.

The convergence of these reports underscores a growing tension across global markets: businesses are rushing to deploy AI at scale while struggling to build the talent pipelines needed to manage it effectively. Regulatory and compliance demands remain the leading obstacle for AI integration (39%), followed by resistance to change (34%). For investors tracking the AI ecosystem, companies that bridge the expertise gap through workforce training and strategic hiring may be better positioned than those pursuing aggressive automation without adequate human capital investment.