GenAI Impact Report 2026: 84% of Companies Feel GenAI Improves Customer Service – While 61% of Consumers Leave Interactions Feeling Fobbed Off

The latest edition of adesso’s “GenAI Impact Report 2026” makes this clear. 500 executives in Germany were surveyed for the new edition of the annual study, as well as, for the first time, over 1,000 consumers. The results show that GenAI adoption is well advanced, but its impact in key areas still falls short of expectations.

Internal Progress, External Frustration

This discrepancy is particularly apparent in the use of GenAI in customer service. While 84% of companies are convinced that GenAI-based conversational AI solutions have improved service quality, only 23% of customers share this view. Furthermore, 61% of respondents say they felt “fobbed off” when interacting with automated systems.

The figures highlight the key perception gap: companies primarily evaluate GenAI in terms of efficiency gains, whereas customers judge it based on service quality and its ability to problem-solve. The use of GenAI in customer interactions therefore becomes a strategic design question. What matters is not the technology itself, but how it is implemented.

GenAI maturity varies widely across companies. While 49% are still in the experimental stage, only 13% have already fully integrated GenAI into their core processes. As a result, the technology remains limited to individual use cases and efficiency initiatives in many organisations, limiting its impact on the customer experience.

Transformation Becomes a Leadership Task

At the same time, the role of technology is undergoing a fundamental shift. GenAI is no longer just a tool for improving efficiency; it is becoming the operational foundation for knowledge work and business processes. Two-thirds of executives already use such applications daily. However, its strategic use often remains limited: almost half of companies primarily use GenAI to optimise existing processes, while only a third deploy it specifically to develop new business models.

That this transformation is primarily organisational is reflected in its biggest hurdles. According to the study, the key challenges cited by companies are security risks (42%), data protection and compliance requirements (39%), and a lack of skilled employees (34%). Technological factors, by contrast, play a significantly smaller role.

As a result, introducing GenAI becomes a broader transformation effort, requiring a combination of new technologies, clear governance, targeted training, and an active cultural shift.

The Future Hinges on Striking the Right Balance Between Investment and Impact

Companies are keen to invest in GenAI: 80% plan to increase their spending. However, the real question is how quickly those investments translate into measurable results.

The data shows that economic benefits materialise much sooner than many expect, although not automatically. Among companies with low GenAI maturity, around a third still see no measurable contribution, but that figure drops to 7% for organisations that have moved to initial structured initiatives. Most companies that have scaled GenAI report a moderate to high contribution to value creation.

“Our research reveals a clear tipping point: once companies transition from experimentation to structured initiatives, the percentage that see no measurable benefits decreases significantly. The real hurdle is committing to driving GenAI forward consistently,” says Benedikt Bonnmann.

This underlines the central challenge: GenAI is already widely used by companies, but many organisations have yet to embed it in their strategy. That will be what decides whether today’s isolated efficiency gains will translate into sustainable competitive advantages.

The full “GenAI Impact Report 2026” is available for download here.

About the survey methodology

For the “GenAI Impact Report 2026”, the market research firm HEUTE UND MORGEN, commissioned by the IT service provider adesso, surveyed a total of 500 executives and over 1,000 consumers in Germany in February 2026. The survey covered the ways GenAI is used and people’s experiences with it, as well as its strategic significance.