Nearly half of Canadian business leaders stuck in AI experimentation without meaningful ROI, BDO finds

BDO Canada's AI Vision Report: Past the pilot to the agentic future of work says responsible scale depends on governance, workforce readiness, and clear business outcomes

TORONTO, June 25, 2026 /CNW/ - 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.

"The next gap will not be between organizations using AI and not using AI. It will be between those redesigning work around AI and those funding disconnected pilots. As AI moves beyond the chat phase and into workflows, leaders will need to be clear on what problems they are solving, who is accountable for the outcome, what data can be used, whether that data is relible enough to support the work, and how value will be measured. Most executives do not yet know what that looks like in practice, and the distance between those who do and those who do not is widening," says Bill Syrros, National AI Leader, BDO Canada.

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.

"This is one of the most significant shifts our clients will navigate this decade. Canada's AI opportunity will depend not only on adoption, but on adoption that is practical, measurable and trusted. Our goal is to help Canadian organizations move from experimentation to responsible scale with the same human-led strategy we have built inside our own firm. There is real opportunity for those that build the right foundations, and we are investing to help our clients seize it," says Jeff Chapman, Managing Partner, Advisory, BDO Canada.

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.

About BDO
BDO helps businesses do more. We offer an integrated suite of accounting, assurance, tax and advisory services grounded in deep industry knowledge. With an understanding of domestic and global business needs, we work alongside our clients to help them turn complex problems into compelling results.

BDO Canada LLP, a Canadian limited liability partnership, is a member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, and forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms.

BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of the BDO Member Firms.

About the Angus Reid Data
These findings are from a survey conducted by BDO Canada from March 31st to April 3rd, 2026, among a representative sample of n=520 online adult Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of ±4.30 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

SOURCE BDO Canada

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