08/21/2026
In a recent conversation with Mike Schiano on In the Queue, John broke down exactly what consulting firms like McKinsey, Ernst Young, and BCG are actually counting when they report "86% AI adoption" numbers. It comes down to one AI-embedded application somewhere in the organization. That's the entire definition.
John's definition looks different. Real adoption means 80% or more of computer-dependent staff using AI daily, with their own hands, building their own tools across the business. By that standard, most businesses he works with are sitting at around 20% adoption, regardless of what the reports say.
The bigger issue is that nearly all of that 20% is self-taught, which means everyone learned it differently.
That fragmentation doesn't appear in any benchmark report. But it shows up in productivity, in consistency, and in competitive positioning.
John and Mike went deeper on what real adoption looks like. Check out the complete discussion in the comments.