FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IMPLEMENTATION AT ENTERPRISES: GUIDELINES FOR UKRAINE

Abstract

The article systematizes foreign experience in the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at enterprises during 2024-2026, drawing on data from McKinsey, Eurostat, Stanford HAI, the OECD, the U.S. Census Bureau, Deloitte and recent academic research. The study demonstrates that the global diffusion of AI is accompanied by a persistent gap between widespread technology use and its actual scaling into measurable business results: although the vast majority of organizations report regular AI use in at least one business function, only a small share have reached full enterprise-wide scaling, and an even smaller share can attribute a meaningful share of enterprise profit to AI. The analysis reveals substantial differentiation in AI adoption rates depending on enterprise size, industry and the level of national digital infrastructure development, with large enterprises and technology-intensive sectors consistently outpacing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and traditional industries. The paper systematizes the key organizational barriers to AI adoption identified in recent international research, including shortages of qualified digital talent, limited investment resources, insufficient data governance and weak integration of AI tools into core business processes, as well as the technology-organization-environment factors that most strongly differentiate high-performing adopters, such as organizational readiness, management commitment and vendor partnerships. Particular attention is paid to policy instruments developed within the G7 and OECD frameworks to support AI adoption by SMEs, including targeted training programmes, simplified access to computational infrastructure and public-private data-sharing mechanisms. The findings are further compared with recent Ukrainian academic research on the digitalization of business processes at domestic enterprises, which allows the barriers common to both contexts to be distinguished from those specific to Ukraine, in particular infrastructure damage caused by hostilities and workforce losses linked to mobilization and migration. Based on the conducted analysis, the article defines a set of organizational guidelines applicable to the formation of a mechanism for the digital transformation of Ukrainian enterprises based on AI technologies under the conditions of post-war economic recovery, emphasizing the need to combine infrastructure development, targeted upskilling, workflow redesign and business-continuity management rather than isolated technology deployment.