Corporate industry professionals are confronting a markedly tougher landscape for expansion. In the latest EY-Parthenon Growth Survey, released April 28, 2026, nearly four in five U.S. executives at companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue described the current environment for business growth as more difficult than a year ago. Almost all survey respondents—97 percent—reported adjusting their business expansion plans over the past 12 months in response to external pressures.
The top drivers included geopolitical tensions and economic swings (cited by 73 percent), technological advances such as AI (58 percent), evolving customer expectations (46 percent), and new regulatory demands (40 percent). Internal hurdles, particularly risk and compliance burdens (35 percent) along with outdated systems and infrastructure (34 percent), were seen as the biggest obstacles to outperforming rivals.
Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence stands out as a promising catalyst.
Seventy-eight percent of the 271 surveyed growth leaders (including C-suite executives) expressed confidence that AI will ultimately speed up their organization’s overall growth trajectory.
Many anticipate it will open fresh market opportunities (57 percent) and enhance customer engagement and sales processes (63 percent).
Yet optimism is tempered by caution: 41 percent worry that AI could empower disruptive new competitors, while 34 percent fear erosion of existing revenue streams.
Current usage remains skewed toward operational gains, with 63 percent deploying AI mainly to boost efficiency and productivity rather than for competitive differentiation or revenue diversification (only 14 percent and 7 percent, respectively).
A notable trust deficit persists—fewer than one-third fully rely on AI outputs for high-stakes choices like pricing optimization, product development, or merger evaluations—despite nearly half of leaders claiming strong internal knowledge of how to harness data and AI for expansion.
These research findings echo patterns in broader industry research.
McKinsey’s 2026 State of Organizations report notes that 88 percent of companies are now experimenting with AI, yet 81 percent report no meaningful financial impact, underscoring the need for deeper organizational change beyond pilot projects.
Similarly, PwC’s 2026 AI Performance Study highlights a stark concentration of value: just 20 percent of firms capture 74 percent of AI-driven economic gains, with leaders prioritizing genuine growth over cost-cutting alone.
In financial services, Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise and Gartner data show over 70 percent of institutions scaling AI by late 2025—double the share from 2023—driven by agile fintech players who face fewer legacy constraints.
For the fintech sector, these dynamics signal transformative potential.
The global AI-in-fintech market is projected to expand from roughly $36.6 billion in 2026 to nearly $99 billion by 2031 at a 22 percent compound annual growth rate, fueled by real-time data, open banking, and cloud tools.
Fintech firms are already leveraging AI to compress product development timelines from years to weeks, deliver hyper-personalized banking experiences, strengthen fraud detection, and lower operational costs—areas where traditional banks often lag.
McKinsey observes that fintechs account for a disproportionate share of AI initiatives in financial services, enabling them to serve previously unprofitable customer segments and challenge incumbents on price and speed.
However, success hinges on bridging the trust gap through transparent, auditable systems (such as emerging neurosymbolic AI) and robust governance to mitigate risks around data privacy, compliance, and ethical use.
As turbulence persists, the EY-Parthenon analysis emphasizes that first-movers who shift AI from productivity tools to strategic growth engines—through faster innovation, tailored offerings, and new revenue models—will be best positioned to thrive. For fintech executives, the main strategy and takeaway is evident by now: treating AI as a core growth imperative, rather than an efficiency add-on, could determine who leads the next phase of industry disruption.