Highest Use of AI in Business — By Whom, Where, and on Which Platforms

Chatbots in the Workplace: Top Tasks 

Among global workers who have used AI chatbots at work, Pew Research Center reports the top tasks to be:

57% research or finding information

52% editing written content

47% drafting reports and documents

40% summarizing information

35% ideation and brainstorming

27% data analysis and coding

21% image and video creation

Industries where employers most encourage AI chatbots: 

Information and technology 36%,

Banking, finance, accounting, real estate and insurance 24%,

Professional, scientific and technical services 19%

In most sectors, half of workers say employers neither encourage nor discourage use.

Which Professions Use It the Most:

Software developers lead adoption at 79% usage at work, marketing at 77%. In education, 66% of students report regular use.

Most Searched Prompts Across Platforms in 2025-2026

ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini dominate traffic. 

Top prompts: writing emails, summarizing articles, explaining concepts, homework help, code debugging, recipe ideas, travel planning, relationship advice and personal reflection.

Globally, 17.8% of working-age adults now use AI regularly.

The United Arab Emirates and Singapore lead the world in per-capita use.

Top Countries by AI Usage and Adoption Rate

United Arab Emirates: Leads globally with 70.1% of working-age adults using AI in Q1 2026, up from 64.0% at end of 2025 and 59.4% in H1 2025.

Singapore: Second globally with 63.4% in Q1 2026, up from 60.9% at end of 2025.

India: Highest raw volume among internet users, leading surveys on consumer and workplace integration.

Other High-Adoption Nations: Norway, Ireland, France, Spain and Netherlands all exceed 40%, well above global average.

Top Countries by AI Development and Compute Power

If measuring by infrastructure, total requests handled, or overall AI development capacity rather than per-capita adoption percentage:

United States:

Dominates in total compute power (measured in H100 equivalents) and foundational model development, though per-capita population usage trails smaller nations like the UAE.

China: 

Ranks near the top for total volume of activity, patent filings, and national AI readiness.

South Africa — Africa's Leader

SA is the leading adopter of Artificial Intelligence in Africa, driven by enterprise demand, software development, and an emerging outsourcing market.

Latest data from Microsoft AI Economy Institute Global AI Diffusion Q1 2026 report shows South Africa's usage reached 23.1% of working-age population so far in 2026, up from 21.1% in second half of 2025, positioning the country 46th globally out of 147 economies and first in Africa — the only African economy above 20%. 

Key Statistics & Growth Rates

• Population Diffusion: 23.1% of the active workforce uses generative AI tools.
• Global Standout: Ranks 8th globally and 1st in Africa on 2026 Global Outsourcing AI Readiness Index with 66.5/100.
• Enterprise Leader: It is the only African country where enterprise AI adoption clears the global midpoint, with over 50% of corporate entities deploying AI technologies.

Regional Adoption By Province

According to local tech analytics, AI integration is highly concentrated around major economic and provincial hubs:

• Gauteng (25.1%): Leads the nation as a fintech and technology powerhouse, showing massive corporate enterprise demand.
• Western Cape (19.8%): Functions heavily as the primary startup and digital innovation hub.
• KwaZulu-Natal (14.1%): Primarily implements AI across manufacturing, harbour operations, and logistics.
• Eastern Cape (8.9%): Dominated by the automotive manufacturing industry integrating industrial AI workflows. 

Sector-Specific Drivers

• Financial Services: The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) indicates that banking leads with a 52% AI adoption rate, leveraging it for cybersecurity, fraud detection, and customer hyper-personalisation. Insurance lags significantly behind at just 8% due to regulatory compliance risks. 
• Software Development: South Africa hosts over 500,000 developers. There is a major trend toward AI-assisted coding and natural-language coding, drastically increasing output across local tech ecosystems. 
• Public Sector Admin: The government utilises over 23 distinct AI tools. Prominent examples include public health chat assistants like MomConnect on WhatsApp and structural management systems deployed by SANRAL for traffic flow and road maintenance.

Challenges to Continued Expansion

While South Africa outperforms its regional peers in the Global South, experts from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) and Microsoft warn that structural limitations could impede further acceleration. Inconsistent electricity access (load shedding), digital skill gaps, and a weak education pipeline threaten to slow down long-term competitiveness if  not addressed.

(Sources: Microsoft AI Economy Institute Global AI Diffusion Q1 2026; Pew Research Center — Workers' experience with AI chatbots; Ataraxis 2026 Global Outsourcing AI Readiness Index.)