Business Forum • 23 June, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Romania has recorded the lowest corporate artificial intelligence (AI) adoption rate in Central Europe, with just 5% of companies deploying the technology at an organisational scale.
According to a report published by McKinsey & Company, this sluggish corporate uptake stands in sharp contrast to the country's 16% personal AI adoption rate.
The study, Central Europe's AI Opportunity, reveals that while AI could unlock at least €280 billion in economic value across the region—equivalent to 6% of its total net turnover—corporate implementation lags significantly behind Western Europe. Only 12% of Central European enterprises have adopted AI across their organisations, compared to 28% in Western Europe.
This disparity is primarily due to the region's economic composition, with 60% of activity concentrated in traditional sectors like manufacturing, construction, and logistics, where scaling AI proves more challenging.
Globally, the hurdle of scaling remains steep. While 88% of companies utilise AI in at least one function, 94% have failed to generate a significant impact on operating profit (EBIT), and only 6% have achieved full organisational deployment.
Nevertheless, the financial incentives remain high. The economic impact of AI is projected to range from 5% to 13% of turnover in advanced manufacturing, and up to 61% in the technology sector.
By the end of 2025, AI capabilities had already matched or exceeded human performance in both routine analysis and complex scientific tasks. With the pace of AI advancement doubling every 12 months, firms delaying adoption risk a widening technological and talent deficit.