Nearly seven in 10 companies around the world are now using AI, a new study from industrial technology company TE Connectivity finds, but they are finding themselves balancing priorities related to AI adoption with more regular business issues, including getting a better harmonized balance sheet and straightening out supply chains roiled by geopolitical conflicts and new tariffs.

CEO Terrence Curtin said in a press release that many companies are at an inflection point when it comes to AI. “It’s imperative that business leaders and engineers are thoughtful about integration and invest in training so that their businesses realize the benefits more rapidly and drive future growth,” Curtin said.

The U.S. has certainly been rapid in its AI adoption. The study found that 55% of companies here have used AI for a year or less, leading the way among other nations that have embraced the technology in the last 12 months. It may be more making up for lost time than anything else. Only 9% of U.S. companies have been using AI for more than three years, lagging far behind all other countries surveyed—including China, with 60% having longer AI experience, and Japan, where just over half of companies have used AI for at least three years.

In the study, executives have reprioritized their internal goals for 2030. Accelerating AI adoption ranked at the bottom, with only 35% seeing it as a top priority. Product innovation is a top goal for nearly three out of five, while 47% want to increase profits. The low priority for expanding AI use is reflected in training budgets. Worldwide, 42% of companies said their organizations don’t offer AI training programs, a proportion that increased to more than half in the U.S.

If companies make taking advantage of AI and accelerating use a priority now, it can prove a significant benefit in the long run. There are many benefits. The global business world is getting more complicated by the day, especially through the chaotic cadence of new tariff enactments and threats. Customers are becoming more nuanced, and their preferences can be tracked. Online interfaces—both for customers and employees—can become more informative and user-friendly. Executives and employees alike perform myriad simple tasks that can be automated. And IT talent really wants to work for companies that make AI adoption a priority: It’s something eight in 10 job seekers look for, the TE Connectivity study found.

Adopting AI and making it part of the fabric of your company is a challenge, to be sure. Tech consulting powerhouse Infosys has been working on supporting AI-first enterprises—both internally and through clients they work with. I talked to CTO Rafee Tarafdar about how to execute the transition to an AI-first company. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

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Last week, Chinese scientists launched what many are hailing as a new AI breakthrough: an autonomous AI agent called Manus. Forbes contributor Craig S. Smith dives into what this new system represents. This isn’t just a chatbot offering answers to questions. Manus can analyze data and make detailed recommendations. Smith and other journalists taking an early look at Manus compare it to a human intern: Able to perform tasks with several parameters, and receptive to feedback about ways to do it better. Smith writes that Manus has a multi-agent architecture in which a central agent coordinates with other agents to break down and complete complex tasks. It’s built on top of Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet model and refined versions of Alibaba’s Qwen models, integrating with 29 tools as well as open-source software. Manus works in the cloud, so Smith writes the Manus will keep working on tasks while users shut down their computers.

Manus is available in an extremely limited pilot test right now, but has been used to perform research and write reports on complex topics; scan resumes and create spreadsheets with detailed reports ranking job candidates;........

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