Companies are accelerating their enterprise transformation processes, but multiplying projects does not guarantee a proportional impact on performance. According to KPMG's global study "Transforming the Enterprise," which surveyed 1,750 CEOs and transformation leaders across 20 geographies, only 14% of organizations consider themselves leaders compared to their peers, and less than a third manage to achieve relevant results at scale across the entire company. Each organization manages an average of 3.5 transformation programs simultaneously, with 72% developing three or more initiatives in parallel. Digital transformation leads the priorities, being present in 70% of companies, followed by functional transformation at 47% and risk management at 32%.
The main challenge for companies has shifted from launching new initiatives to coordinating them and establishing common priorities. João Sousa Leal, head of Advisory at KPMG Portugal, emphasizes that organizations are not lacking in initiatives, and that it is now necessary to align them and convert them into concrete results. The executive warns that fragmentation can generate inefficiencies, additional costs and delays, and that artificial intelligence increases this requirement, as it only generates real value when supported by quality data, skills and coordinated execution.
Regarding artificial intelligence, although it is being adopted in areas such as data analysis, automation and decision-making support, its benefits remain confined to local operational improvements. Forty-eight percent of organizations report incremental productivity gains, but only 11% report a substantial impact across the entire company. Usage varies significantly between departments, with Technology and Information Systems leading at 59%, while only 19% of organizations consider their employees highly prepared to work with AI.
Risk management and AI governance continue to be weaknesses in most organizations. Only 24% proactively integrate technology risks into their strategy and throughout their entire lifecycle. Although 57% of companies already view trust as a competitive advantage, only 28% can directly associate AI trust and risk management mechanisms with concrete financial or operational results. KPMG suggests three strategic priorities: strengthening technology, data and governance foundations; redesigning operating models to integrate people and AI; and rethinking the company as an interconnected system in permanent evolution.
