Innovation drives productivity (+34%)
The lead over companies less exposed to machine learning is ten points
Key points
It’s not just about the labour market. AI is a key factor in productivity growth, even more so than in employment. The AI Jobs Barometer 2026 highlights the figures that demonstrate the competitive advantage gained from adopting AI.
In this case, for the analysis – that is, of productivity – PwC examined over 52,000 companies worldwide using ORBIS financial data. “This corporate dataset,” the analysts explain, “was used specifically to analyse results relating to productivity growth, staff numbers and wages in relation to the degree of exposure to artificial intelligence. Italia is represented by 5,888 companies out of the total sample, accounting for approximately 11% of the sample.”
What the report reveals
It thus emerges that companies operating in the sectors most exposed to AI recorded a 34 per cent increase in productivity in 2025 compared with 2018, compared with 24 per cent for companies with lower exposure. Within this group, a strong effect known as the ‘superstar’ effect stands out: the 20% of companies most advanced in their adoption of AI achieved an average growth in labour productivity of 163%, almost five times higher than the average for AI-intensive companies.
“In the global economy,” emphasises Alessandro Caridi, Digital Innovation Leader at PwC Italia, “a new dividing line is emerging between different models of talent management and value creation. Companies that derive the greatest returns from AI do not simply use it to reduce costs, but to accelerate innovation, create new businesses and multiply the value generatedfrom human skills. This is precisely the difference: those who view AI as a driver of growth and new opportunities are widening the gap – in terms of productivity and development – between themselves and those who use it primarily to automate what already exists’.
Another consequence concerns the wage premium: in fact, as productivity rises due to the adoption of AI, the wage premium for workers with specific AI skills continues to grow, reaching 62% in 2025, up from 57% the previous year. The premium varies by sector: it can reach up to 118% in sectors such as consumer goods, whilst it stands at around 16% in the public sector.
