06-16-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

You can’t build your AI future on broken foundations

Resolve four compounding debts, and you’ll eliminate inefficiency.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of top leaders and experts who pay dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership, and more.

Every major enterprise is running an AI program. Almost none of them are ready for it.

Genpact, in partnership with HFS Research, surveyed more than 2,000 enterprise executives across industries and functions as part of our study on how four enterprise debts will make or break your AI future. The findings are confirming and clarifying: Ambition is high, readiness is low, and the gap between the two is compounding.

The data is unambiguous: 85% of leaders say their underlying foundations, fragmented data, ungoverned processes, aging systems, and undertrained talent are actively working against their AI investments. Enterprises are directing 13% of average function spend toward AI. The foundations on which spending depends are not ready for it. Layering AI on top of processes that were never designed for it does not unlock value. It locks in the cost of the status quo at machine speed.

1 STRUCTURAL FAILURE, 4 COMPOUNDING DEBTS

Enterprise debt does not appear on a balance sheet. It accumulates quietly, in systems held together by tribal........

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