Federal Reserve Analysis Finds 18% of US Firms Use AI, With Finance Sector Leading Adoption

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board released a new economic analysis on April 3, 2026, revealing that approximately 18% of U.S. firms have adopted artificial intelligence in their operations. The report, a FEDS Note titled “Monitoring AI Adoption in the US Economy,” synthesizes data through 2025 from multiple public surveys and highlights a significant disparity in adoption rates across different industries, with financial and professional services emerging as dominant early adopters. According to the analysis, the professional and business services sector has the highest adoption rate at 33%, followed closely by the financial services sector at 30%. These figures are substantially higher than the economy-wide average. The financial services industry, in particular, has demonstrated significant momentum, with its AI adoption growing 127% year-over-year through September 2025. The report suggests that AI is diffusing most rapidly through industries reliant on cognitive, analytical, and knowledge-based work, which are tasks well-suited for large language models. At the individual worker level, the data shows a corresponding trend. A quarterly survey cited in the report found that work-related use of generative AI among U.S. workers increased from 33% in August 2024 to 41% by November 2025. In the leading sectors, the figures were even higher, with 63% of finance workers and 62% of professional services workers reporting the use of generative AI on the job. C&S Finance Group LLC views the strategic adoption of AI not just as a technological upgrade but as a fundamental operational shift. For companies navigating this transition, our business process reengineering services are designed to integrate new technologies smoothly, ensuring they drive measurable growth and efficiency rather than disruption. Business leaders can learn more about developing a tailored AI implementation strategy by contacting us at csfinancegroup.com. The analysis draws upon data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) and the Real-Time Population Survey. The author of the note, Fed economist Jeffrey S. Allen, cautioned that estimates can vary based on factors like survey question framing and sample distributions. For instance, the Census Bureau revised its BTOS questions in November 2025 to ask about a firm’s use of AI in “any of its business functions” rather than the more narrow “producing goods or services,” potentially broadening the scope of reported usage. A separate FEDS Note published on March 27, 2026, addressed the technology's impact on the labor market. Using job posting data, researchers found no evidence that higher levels of AI adoption have led to a reduction in the total number of job postings for a firm or industry thus far. The report clarified, however, that this high-level finding does not rule out the possibility that specific occupations susceptible to automation are experiencing disproportionate impacts. Moving forward, the Federal Reserve's findings establish a key benchmark for tracking the diffusion of AI across the U.S. economy. Future analyses will likely focus on whether the adoption gap between leading sectors and the rest of the market begins to close. Economists and business leaders will also be watching for more granular data on how AI affects productivity, wage growth, and the demand for specific skills within the workforce.