Artificial intelligence widely established in Swiss companies – but many are still in the early stages of scaling

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• 89% of respondents use AI solutions in their daily work, with integrated tools such as Copilot or Gemini being the most widespread at around 70%
• 29% of respondents state that the use of private AI accounts such as ChatGPT is permitted in their company – for 8%, these are the only means of accessing AI
• 55% of respondents report that their company already uses AI solutions in a targeted manner, while 9% already see AI as an integral part of their business strategy that has transformed their business model
• Around 7% of companies have already implemented job cuts due to AI and 11% have not refilled positions that became vacant because of AI. At the same time, 18% have created new AI-related positions
• Data protection and data sovereignty remain central: 56% support investment in Swiss AI infrastructure, while 40% favor alignment with the EU AI Act

Zurich, 27 May 2026 – Artificial intelligence has rapidly evolved from a future-oriented topic into an established part of everyday business operations in Swiss companies. At the same time, a new survey conducted by the auditing and consulting firm EY among 604 respondents from companies across Switzerland shows that many organizations are still in the early stages of systematically scaling AI and embedding it strategically. While initial applications are already widely used, transformation at company level remains incomplete in many cases.

Broad access to AI, but varying levels of maturity

Access to AI technologies is now available in most companies. 89% of respondents already use AI solutions in their daily work. Integrated solutions such as Microsoft Copilot or Google Workspace with Gemini are particularly widespread and are used by 70% of respondents. In addition, 35% have enterprise licenses for specialized applications such as ChatGPT Enterprise or comparable tools. Proprietary AI development is also gaining importance: around one-third of respondents (33%) report that their company has already developed AI solutions based on multiple AI models. Furthermore, 29% report that the use of external AI tools via private accounts such as ChatGPT is permitted within their company – and for 8%, this is currently the only way to access AI in their everyday work. Only 3% indicate that AI use is currently completely prohibited in their company.

Overall, 55% of respondents report that targeted AI solutions are already being deployed or scaled across multiple business areas. This includes companies using AI in individual business areas (32%), systematically scaling AI across multiple areas (14%), and companies that already regard AI as an integral part of their business strategy that has transformed their business model (9%). Another 31% are currently conducting pilot projects or proofs of concept, while 14% report that they have not yet launched any concrete AI initiatives.

“Many companies have successfully taken the first step toward adopting AI. The real challenge now lies in transforming isolated use cases into scalable, company-wide transformation,” says Adrian Ott, Chief AI Officer at EY Switzerland.

Data sovereignty as a key success factor

One of the clearest findings concerns data sovereignty. For half of respondents (51%), it is business-critical that AI systems comply with Swiss or European data protection requirements and that data is processed within Switzerland or the EU. On average, respondents rated the importance of Swiss or European data protection standards and local data processing at 8.7 out of 10.

These findings indicate that data location, regulatory requirements and control over data flows play a central role for many companies. Particularly in the context of international technology providers, data sovereignty is becoming increasingly important for the practical deployment of AI.

Mixed impact on the labor market

The impact of AI on workforce size currently presents a mixed picture. 18% of respondents indicate that their company has created additional AI-related positions, such as in data science or AI engineering. At the same time, 11% report that vacant positions in certain areas are no longer being refilled, while 7% indicate that AI has already resulted in job cuts. Another 18% expect job cuts in the future as a consequence of AI.

Notably, 42% of respondents were either unable to provide a clear assessment of impacts on the workforce or chose not to answer. This suggests that many companies are still in an early stage of transformation where the concrete effects on the workforce cannot yet be fully assessed.

Data, security and talent are the biggest challenges

According to respondents, the biggest obstacles to the implementation and use of AI are primarily operational and organizational. 20% cite data quality and data silos as the main challenge, followed by security and data protection concerns (19%) and a shortage of qualified talent (18%).

By comparison, other factors are considered less significant: a lack of use cases with clear business value (10%), budget constraints (9%) and regulatory uncertainty (6%) are mentioned considerably less frequently as the core problem. Overall, the findings suggest that the main challenge is not the willingness to adopt AI but rather the practical implementation within existing structures.

Pragmatic use and growing trust in AI

Companies’ approach to AI is predominantly pragmatic. 72% of respondents primarily use AI as support in their daily work, for example as a sparring partner for ideas, creating first drafts or structuring content. At the same time, 47% already trust AI in selected use cases, including technical or factual questions.

Additionally, 40% state that in certain situations, particularly under time pressure, they consider AI-generated answers to be more reliable than manually researched information. A fundamentally skeptical attitude toward AI remains relatively uncommon and is held by only 12% of respondents. Overall, the results indicate growing but nuanced trust in AI.

“The findings show that companies are increasingly using AI in a targeted and context-dependent manner. It is less about blind trust and more about a differentiated and pragmatic approach to the possibilities of the technology,” says Ott.

Clear expectations for strengthening Switzerland as an AI hub

Looking ahead to future developments, respondents express clear expectations toward policymakers and framework conditions. 58% cite the expansion of education and training opportunities in AI as the most important measure. Developing a sovereign Swiss AI infrastructure, in the form of cloud and computing capacity, is also considered highly important by 56%.

In addition, 40% support dedicated programs to help SMEs adopt AI. A similar share sees alignment with the EU AI Act as important for ensuring legal certainty in international business. At the same time, 28% support maintaining an independent Swiss regulatory approach.

About the survey

A total of 604 respondents from companies across Switzerland participated in the survey. Participants represent companies of different sizes: 30% work in companies with more than 10,000 employees, 25% in large companies with 1,000–9,999 employees, 19% in SMEs with 10–249 employees, 14% in medium-sized companies with 250–999 employees and 12% in small companies with fewer than 10 employees.

Respondents also represent a broad range of industries. 23% work in banking, followed by industry and manufacturing (10%), technology, media and telecommunications (9%), professional services (9%) and life sciences and pharma (8%). Insurance, retail, energy, the public sector and additional industries are also represented.

About the global EY organization

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EY’s organization is represented in Switzerland by Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel, with 10 offices across Switzerland, and in Liechtenstein by Ernst & Young AG, Vaduz. In this publication, “EY” and “we” refer to Ernst & Young Ltd, Basel, a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited.