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

CHICAGO, July 22, 2026 - 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.