Workflow Automation Statistics 2026
This page collects published figures on workflow automation: how many businesses automate and use AI by firm size, how much time automation and AI save workers, how large the RPA, low-code and no-code market is, how AI agents are being added to automated workflows, and what holds adoption back. Official statistics cover the EU, the UK and the US; industry surveys mostly cover large companies in North America and Western Europe. Data runs from 2025 to late 2026, with one older Gartner market forecast shown for scale.
By the DBotMaker research desk · Updated November 6, 2026 · 52 numbers drawn from 22 publishers and reports
Short answer
Automation and AI use rise sharply with company size: Eurostat found 55.03% of large EU enterprises used AI in 2025 against 17% of small ones, and the US Census Bureau found 37% of firms with 250 or more employees using AI against a national rate of 19.8% in May 2026. Large organizations surveyed by Camunda had automated 48% of their processes, while the St. Louis Fed measured an average time saving of 5.4% of work hours, about 2.2 hours a week, for workers using generative AI.
Headline numbers
- 55.03%55.03% of large EU enterprises used AI in 2025, compared with 30.36% of medium-sized and 17% of small enterprises.Eurostat
- 19.8%19.8% of US businesses reported using AI in a business function in the Census survey period ending May 3, 2026.U.S. Census Bureau
- 48%Large organizations surveyed by Camunda had automated 48% of their processes on average in 2025 and believed this could reach 64%.Camunda
- 5.4%US workers who used generative AI in the previous week saved an average of 5.4% of their work hours in November 2024, according to the Real-Time Population Survey.Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
- 1.6%Across all US workers, including non-users, generative AI time savings equaled 1.6% of all work hours in pooled 2025 surveys.Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
- $1.938 billionUiPath's annualized renewal run-rate reached $1.938 billion as of July 31, 2026, up 12% year over year.UiPath
- 77%77% of business API transcripts analyzed by Anthropic in 2025 showed automation patterns such as full task delegation, compared with 12% showing augmentation.Anthropic
- 11%71% of large organizations surveyed by Camunda said they use AI agents, but only 11% of agentic AI use cases reached production in the past year.Camunda
Reading the numbers
Firm size is the strongest predictor of automation in every official dataset. Eurostat found large EU enterprises more than three times as likely as small ones to use AI in 2025, and 88.71% of large firms ran ERP software against 41.08% of small ones. The US Census Bureau's survey shows 37% of firms with 250 or more employees using AI, while firms with four or fewer employees stay below 20% and showed no significant change after December 2025. The ONS found the same gap in Great Britain, at 49% for the largest businesses and 28% for the smallest.
Inside large organizations, automation is already the default for a large share of processes. Camunda's 2026 survey found an average of 48% of processes automated, 95% of respondents crediting automation with business growth and 79% planning to spend more. Integration is the limiting factor: Salesforce's MuleSoft research counts 957 applications in the average enterprise with only 27% integrated, and 96% of IT leaders say AI agents depend on data integration.
Time savings are measurable but modest. The St. Louis Fed found generative AI users saved 5.4% of their hours, about 2.2 hours a week, and the saving across all US workers equaled 1.6% of work hours in 2025. A Danish study published by the University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute found 2.8%. Thomson Reuters respondents expect 5 hours a week, which is a forecast rather than a measurement.
AI is now the main growth story in automation. Anthropic found 77% of business API traffic followed automation patterns, Zapier found 72% of large US enterprises using or testing agents, and nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 run agents built with Microsoft's low-code tools. Production is lagging: Camunda found only 11% of agentic use cases reached production, and Salesforce found half of agents running in silos. On the market side, UiPath's recurring revenue grew 12% to $1.938 billion, while n8n's valuation rose to $5.2 billion in May 2026.
Automation and AI adoption by firm size in Europe
- 1.
19.95% of EU enterprises with 10 or more employees used at least one AI technology in 2025, up 6.47 percentage points on 2024.
Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, 19.95% of EU enterprises used AI technologies.
- 2.
55.03% of large EU enterprises used AI in 2025, compared with 30.36% of medium-sized and 17% of small enterprises.
Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, 17% of small enterprises, 30.36% of medium enterprises and 55.03% of large enterprises used AI.
- 3.
31.05% of EU enterprises that used AI in 2025 applied it to the organisation of business administration processes or management, the second most common purpose after marketing or sales.
Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, 34.70% of enterprises using AI technologies used these software or systems for marketing or sales and 31.05% for the organisation of business administration processes or management.
- 4.
43.38% of large EU enterprises using AI applied it to business administration processes in 2025, compared with 28.49% of small enterprises using AI.
Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
followed by those which used them for the organisation of business administration processes or management (43.38% large enterprises, 28.49% small enterprises)
- 5.
46.45% of EU enterprises used Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software in 2025.
Eurostat, E-business integration (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, 46.45% of EU enterprises used Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software applications.
- 6.
ERP use in the EU ranged from 41.08% of small enterprises to 88.71% of large enterprises in 2025.
Eurostat, E-business integration (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
In 2025, the percentage of EU enterprises using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software ranged from 41.08% for small enterprises to 88.71% for large enterprises.
- 7.
About 35% of UK businesses with 10 or more employees reported using AI in mid-2026, up from about 12% in late 2023.
Office for National Statistics, Artificial intelligence in UK businesses: 2023 to 2026 (Jul 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The self-reported use of artificial intelligence (AI) in UK businesses with 10 or more employees has increased from around 12% to around 35% since late 2023, with larger firms more likely to have adopted AI.
- 8.
49% of UK businesses with 250 or more employees used at least one AI technology in 2026, compared with 28% of businesses with 0 to 9 employees.
Office for National Statistics, Artificial intelligence in UK businesses: 2023 to 2026 (Jul 2026)
Exact wording at the source
AI use varies by business size, with 28% of businesses with 0 to 9 employees reporting use of at least one AI technology, compared with 49% of those with 250 or more employees.
- 9.
15% of UK businesses with 10 or more employees said more than half of their staff use AI in daily work in 2026.
Office for National Statistics, Artificial intelligence in UK businesses: 2023 to 2026 (Jul 2026)
Exact wording at the source
A similar pattern is observed for the share of the workforce using AI, with 15% of businesses (with 10 or more employees) reporting that more than half of their employees use AI as part of their daily work.
Chart
EU enterprises using AI by size, 2025
Share of EU enterprises with 10 or more employees using at least one AI technology, Eurostat ICT usage survey, 2025.
- Small (10 to 49 employees)17%
- Medium (50 to 249)30.4%
- Large (250 or more)55%
Source: Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises
Automation and AI adoption by firm size in the United States
- 10.
19.8% of US businesses reported using AI in a business function in the Census survey period ending May 3, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
As of May 3, 2026, the AI use rates in the Information (39.7%) and Finance and Insurance (33.9%) sectors were both higher than the national rate (19.8%) but neither reported significant shifts since December.
- 11.
Between 20% and 23% of US businesses expected to be using AI within the next six months, according to Census data collected from December 2025 to May 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The BTOS data (December 2025 to May 2026) show that overall AI usage hovered between 17% and 20% — and that between 20% and 23% of businesses expected to be using it in the next six months.
- 12.
37% of US firms with at least 250 employees reported using AI in their business operations in spring 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
For example, 37% of firms with at least 250 employees reported using AI in their business operations.
- 13.
Fewer than 20% of US firms with four or fewer employees reported using AI in spring 2026, and AI use among firms under 20 employees did not change significantly after December 2025.
U.S. Census Bureau, Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Less than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees reported using AI.
- 14.
58% of US small businesses surveyed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said they used generative AI in 2025.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center, Empowering Small Business: The Impact of Technology on U.S. Small Business (Aug 2025)
Exact wording at the source
58% of small businesses say they use generative AI
- 15.
75% of small and medium businesses surveyed by Salesforce worldwide were at least experimenting with AI in 2025.
Salesforce, Watch: 75% of SMBs Are At Least Experimenting with AI (2025)
Exact wording at the source
75% of SMBs Are At Least Experimenting with AI
Process automation inside large organizations
- 16.
Large organizations surveyed by Camunda had automated 48% of their processes on average in 2025 and believed this could reach 64%.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
On average, organizations have automated 48% of their processes and believe this could reach 64%.
- 17.
95% of large organizations in Camunda's 2026 survey said process automation increased business growth over the past year, up from 87% a year earlier.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The report highlights that the majority (95%) of organizations have seen increased business growth due to process automation over the past year (up from 87% last year).
- 18.
79% of large organizations plan to increase automation spending, with budgets expected to rise by an average of 20% over two years, according to Camunda.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Nearly four in five (79%) plan to increase automation spend, with budgets expected to rise by an average of 20% over the next two years.
- 19.
85% of large organizations surveyed by Camunda said they need better tools to manage the handoffs between processes.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
As a result, 85% say they need better tools to manage the intersections between processes
- 20.
The average enterprise ran 957 applications in 2025, up from 897 a year earlier, and only 27% of them were integrated, according to Salesforce's survey of 1,050 IT leaders.
Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The number of apps in enterprises grew from 897 to 957 year over year, with only 27% of them integrated together.
- 21.
96% of IT leaders surveyed for the MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark agreed that AI agent success depends on data integration across all systems.
Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
96% of IT leaders agree that AI agent success depends on seamless data integration across all systems.
Time saved by automation and AI
- 22.
US workers who used generative AI in the previous week saved an average of 5.4% of their work hours in November 2024, according to the Real-Time Population Survey.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The Impact of Generative AI on Work Productivity (Feb 2025)
Exact wording at the source
We found an average time savings of 5.4% of work hours in the November 2024 survey.
- 23.
A 5.4% time saving equals about 2.2 hours a week for someone working 40 hours, the St. Louis Fed calculated.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The Impact of Generative AI on Work Productivity (Feb 2025)
Exact wording at the source
For an individual working 40 hours per week, saving 5.4% of work hours implies a time savings of 2.2 hours per week.
- 24.
20.5% of US generative AI users said the tools saved them four hours or more in the previous week, while 33.0% saved an hour or less, in November 2024.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The Impact of Generative AI on Work Productivity (Feb 2025)
Exact wording at the source
The next figure shows that among workers who used generative AI in the previous week, 20.5% said that generative AI saved them four hours or more in that week, 20.1% reported three hours, 26.4% reported saving two hours, and 33.0% reported an hour or less.
- 25.
Across all US workers, including non-users, generative AI time savings equaled 1.6% of all work hours in pooled 2025 surveys.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The State of Generative AI Adoption in 2025 (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Factoring in all workers, including nonusers, workers report generative AI time savings equivalent to 1.6% of all work hours.
- 26.
The share of US work hours spent using generative AI rose from 4.1% in November 2024 to 5.7% in August 2025 for workers aged 18 to 64.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The State of Generative AI Adoption in 2025 (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
For the entire U.S. workforce ages 18 to 64, the share of work hours spent using generative AI increased from 4.1% in November 2024 to 5.7% in August 2025.
- 27.
Generative AI may have raised US labor productivity by up to 1.3% since ChatGPT launched, based on the St. Louis Fed's 2025 survey data.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The State of Generative AI Adoption in 2025 (Nov 2025)
Exact wording at the source
When we feed these estimates into a standard aggregate production model, this suggests that generative AI may have increased labor productivity by up to 1.3% since the introduction of ChatGPT.
- 28.
Danish workers in 11 AI-exposed occupations reported average time savings of 2.8% of work hours from AI chatbots, in a study linking surveys to administrative records.
Becker Friedman Institute, University of Chicago, Large Language Models, Small Labor Market Effects (Humlum and Vestergaard) (Apr 2025)
Exact wording at the source
However, despite substantial investments in AI chatbots, their overall impact on work remains modest: users report average time savings of 2.8% of work hours.
- 29.
Professionals surveyed by Thomson Reuters in 2025 predicted AI would save them 5 hours a week within a year, worth about $19,000 per person annually.
Thomson Reuters, The AI adoption reality check: Firms with AI strategies are twice as likely to see AI-driven revenue growth (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Globally, survey respondents across industries also predict that professionals using AI will save 5 hours weekly within the next year, up from 4 hours predicted in 2024, unlocking an average of $19,000 in annual value per person, according to our study's overall findings.
Chart
Weekly time saved by US generative AI users
Share of US workers who used generative AI in the previous week, Real-Time Population Survey, November 2024.
- Four hours or more20.5%
- Three hours20.1%
- Two hours26.4%
- One hour or less33%
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The Impact of Generative AI on Work Productivity
RPA, low-code and no-code market
- 30.
UiPath's annualized renewal run-rate reached $1.938 billion as of July 31, 2026, up 12% year over year.
UiPath, UiPath Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2027 Financial Results (Sep 2026)
Exact wording at the source
ARR of $1.938 billion as of July 31, 2026 increased 12 percent year-over-year.
- 31.
UiPath's revenue for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026 was $1.611 billion, up 13% year over year.
UiPath, UiPath Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2026 Financial Results (Mar 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Revenue of $1.611 billion increased 13 percent year-over-year.
- 32.
Gartner forecast the worldwide low-code development technologies market at $26.9 billion in 2023, up 19.6% from 2022. This is an older forecast shown for scale.
Gartner, Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Low-Code Development Technologies Market to Grow 20% in 2023 (Dec 2022)
Exact wording at the source
The worldwide market for low-code development technologies is projected to total $26.9 billion in 2023, an increase of 19.6% from 2022, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc.
- 33.
Gartner predicted that by 2026 developers outside formal IT departments would make up at least 80% of low-code tool users, up from 60% in 2021.
Gartner, Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Low-Code Development Technologies Market to Grow 20% in 2023 (Dec 2022)
Exact wording at the source
Gartner predicts that by 2026, developers outside formal IT departments will account for at least 80% of the user base for low-code development tools, up from 60% in 2021.
- 34.
n8n, a workflow automation platform, was valued at $5.2 billion after a strategic investment by SAP in May 2026.
n8n, n8n Press (2026)
Exact wording at the source
May 2026: strategic investment by SAP at a $5.2 billion valuation; n8n to be embedded in SAP Joule Studio
- 35.
n8n raised $180 million in October 2025 at a $2.5 billion valuation, bringing total funding to $240 million.
n8n, n8n raises $180m to get AI closer to value with orchestration (Oct 2025)
Exact wording at the source
We just raised $180 million in Series C funding, bringing our total funding to $240 million and our valuation to $2.5 billion.
- 36.
n8n reported 6x user growth and 10x revenue growth during 2025.
n8n, n8n raises $180m to get AI closer to value with orchestration (Oct 2025)
Exact wording at the source
We've made so much progress this year alone: 6x user growth, 10x revenue growth
- 37.
Nearly 90% of Fortune 500 companies had active agents built with Microsoft's low-code and no-code tools such as Copilot Studio by April 2026.
Microsoft, Microsoft FY26 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call (Apr 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 now have active agents built with our low-code/no-code tools.
AI agents in automation
- 38.
77% of business API transcripts analyzed by Anthropic in 2025 showed automation patterns such as full task delegation, compared with 12% showing augmentation.
Anthropic, Anthropic Economic Index report: Uneven geographic and enterprise AI adoption (Sep 2025)
Exact wording at the source
In our data, 77% of API transcripts show automation patterns (especially full task delegation) versus just 12% for augmentation (e.g., collaborative refinement and learning).
- 39.
Office and administrative support tasks made up 13% of Anthropic's business API traffic in November 2025, up 3 percentage points since August, pointing to more back-office workflow automation.
Anthropic, Anthropic Economic Index report: Economic primitives (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
Perhaps the most notable development for API customers was the increase in the share of transcripts associated with Office and Administrative Support related tasks, which rose 3pp in August to 13% in November 2025.
- 40.
72% of US enterprises with more than 1,000 employees were using or testing AI agents in late 2025, according to a Zapier survey of 525 executives.
Zapier, Zapier Survey Finds 84% of Enterprises Plan to Boost AI Agent Investment (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Adoption is widespread: 72% of enterprises are currently using or testing AI agents.
- 41.
40% of US enterprises using or testing AI agents had multiple agents in production in late 2025, according to Zapier.
Zapier, Zapier Survey Finds 84% of Enterprises Plan to Boost AI Agent Investment (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Of this group, 40% have multiple agents in production.
- 42.
84% of US enterprise leaders surveyed by Zapier in late 2025 said they were likely or certain to increase AI agent investment over the next year.
Zapier, Zapier Survey Finds 84% of Enterprises Plan to Boost AI Agent Investment (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Investment is strong: 84% of enterprise leaders say it is likely or certain they will increase AI agent investments in the next year.
- 43.
30% of US enterprise leaders surveyed by Zapier saw automating routine workflows as the greatest potential use case for AI agents.
Zapier, Zapier Survey Finds 84% of Enterprises Plan to Boost AI Agent Investment (Dec 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Enterprises are rushing to adopt AI agents because the potential for automating routine workflows is massive; 30% of leaders see this as the greatest potential use case
- 44.
71% of large organizations surveyed by Camunda said they use AI agents, but only 11% of agentic AI use cases reached production in the past year.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
The report finds that despite 71% of organizations stating they use AI agents, only 11% of agentic AI use cases have reached production in the last year.
- 45.
Organizations used an average of 12 AI agents in late 2025, a number expected to rise 67% within two years, according to Salesforce's MuleSoft survey.
Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
organizations currently use an average of 12 agents, with the number projected to climb 67% within two years.
- 46.
50% of enterprise AI agents operated in isolated silos rather than as part of a multi-agent system, according to the MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark.
Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
50% of agents currently operate in isolated silos versus part of a multi-agent system, resulting in disconnected workflows, redundant automations, and the potential risk of shadow AI.
- 47.
Gartner predicts up to 40% of enterprise applications will include integrated task-specific AI agents by 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025.
Gartner, Gartner Predicts 40% of Enterprise Apps Will Feature Task-Specific AI Agents by 2026, Up from Less Than 5% in 2025 (Aug 2025)
Exact wording at the source
Gartner predicts up to 40% of enterprise applications will include integrated task-specific agents by 2026, up from less than 5% today.
Chart
How enterprises built their existing AI agents
Average split of existing agents by development method, survey of 1,050 IT leaders, October to November 2025.
- Prebuilt SaaS agents36%
- Embedded in enterprise platforms34%
- Custom-built in-house30%
Source: Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report)
Barriers to automation and AI in workflows
- 48.
84% of large organizations surveyed by Camunda worried about the business risk of AI in day-to-day processes when IT lacks the right controls.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
84% are worried about the business risk of AI in day-to-day processes when IT does not have the appropriate controls in place
- 49.
80% of large organizations surveyed by Camunda said most of their AI agents are chatbots or assistants rather than systems that handle mission-critical cases.
Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026)
Exact wording at the source
80% say most of their AI agents are chatbots or assistants that summarize or answer questions, instead of handling mission-critical cases.
- 50.
86% of IT leaders surveyed by Salesforce were concerned that AI agents will add more complexity than value without proper integration.
Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
With integration challenges and agent silos, 86% of IT leaders are concerned that agents will introduce more complexity than value without proper integration.
- 51.
Only 54% of organizations had a centralized governance framework with formal oversight for their AI agents, and an estimated 27% of APIs were ungoverned, according to the MuleSoft 2026 survey.
Salesforce, Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026)
Exact wording at the source
An estimated 27% of APIs are currently ungoverned, on average, and only 54% of organizations have a centralized governance framework with formal oversight for their agentic capabilities.
- 52.
Only 22% of professionals surveyed by Thomson Reuters in 2025 said their business had a visible, defined AI strategy.
Thomson Reuters, The AI adoption reality check: Firms with AI strategies are twice as likely to see AI-driven revenue growth (Jun 2025)
Exact wording at the source
However, despite the clear benefits, only 22% state their businesses have a visible, defined AI strategy, meaning many organizations may be missing out on the advantages of strategically integrating AI.
Chart
Concerns about AI agents in business processes
Share of 1,150 decision makers at organizations with more than 1,000 employees in the US, UK, France and Germany, surveyed September to October 2025.
- Business risk without IT controls84%
- Lack of transparency into AI use80%
- Compliance concerns66%
Source: Camunda, Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation)
Questions readers ask
- What share of businesses use workflow automation or AI?
- Official data puts business AI use at about one in five firms: 19.95% of EU enterprises in 2025 according to Eurostat and 19.8% of US businesses in May 2026 according to the Census Bureau. Large firms are far ahead, at 55.03% in the EU and 37% for US firms with 250 or more employees.
- How much time does automation save?
- The St. Louis Fed found US workers using generative AI saved an average of 5.4% of their work hours, about 2.2 hours a week, and 20.5% saved four hours or more. Across all workers the saving was 1.6% of work hours in 2025, and a Danish study found 2.8% for chatbot users.
- How much of their work have large companies automated?
- Large organizations surveyed by Camunda had automated 48% of their processes on average and believed that could reach 64%. 79% planned to raise automation spending by an average of 20% over two years.
- How big is the RPA and low-code market?
- UiPath, the largest listed RPA vendor, reported annual recurring revenue of $1.938 billion in July 2026, up 12%. Gartner's last public low-code forecast put the market at $26.9 billion in 2023, and workflow platform n8n was valued at $5.2 billion in May 2026.
- Are AI agents replacing traditional automation?
- They are being added to it. Zapier found 72% of large US enterprises using or testing AI agents and Anthropic found 77% of business API use followed automation patterns, but Camunda found only 11% of agentic use cases reached production and Salesforce found half of agents running in silos.
Where these numbers come from
We selected figures from the organizations that collected the data: statistical offices (Eurostat, ONS, U.S. Census Bureau), a Federal Reserve bank, an academic working paper, analyst forecasts, company filings and surveys run by automation and software vendors. Each quote was checked against the source page on the date shown. Samples and definitions differ: Eurostat and the ONS cover enterprises with 10 or more employees, the Census Bureau covers all US employer businesses, and vendor surveys from Camunda, Salesforce and Zapier cover large organizations and are run by companies that sell automation or integration software. Most official surveys measure AI use rather than workflow automation directly, so we use AI for business administration and ERP adoption as proxies. The Gartner low-code forecast dates from 2022 and is shown only for scale. Time savings are self-reported unless stated otherwise. We store the sentence each number appears in, and a script loads the publisher's page again to make sure that sentence is still there. Our methodology has the details.
Sources
- Anthropic. Anthropic Economic Index report: Uneven geographic and enterprise AI adoption (Sep 2025).
- Anthropic. Anthropic Economic Index report: Economic primitives (Jan 2026).
- Becker Friedman Institute, University of Chicago. Large Language Models, Small Labor Market Effects (Humlum and Vestergaard) (Apr 2025).
- Camunda. Three Quarters of Organizations Admit Gap Between Agentic AI Vision and Reality (2026 State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation) (Jan 2026).
- Eurostat. Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Dec 2025).
- Eurostat. E-business integration (May 2026).
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Impact of Generative AI on Work Productivity (Feb 2025).
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The State of Generative AI Adoption in 2025 (Nov 2025).
- Gartner. Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Low-Code Development Technologies Market to Grow 20% in 2023 (Dec 2022).
- Gartner. Gartner Predicts 40% of Enterprise Apps Will Feature Task-Specific AI Agents by 2026, Up from Less Than 5% in 2025 (Aug 2025).
- Microsoft. Microsoft FY26 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call (Apr 2026).
- n8n. n8n Press (2026).
- n8n. n8n raises $180m to get AI closer to value with orchestration (Oct 2025).
- Office for National Statistics. Artificial intelligence in UK businesses: 2023 to 2026 (Jul 2026).
- Salesforce. Watch: 75% of SMBs Are At Least Experimenting with AI (2025).
- Salesforce. Multi-Agent Adoption to Surge 67% by 2027 (MuleSoft 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report) (Feb 2026).
- Thomson Reuters. The AI adoption reality check: Firms with AI strategies are twice as likely to see AI-driven revenue growth (Jun 2025).
- U.S. Census Bureau. Large Firms With at Least 20 Employees Biggest AI Users (May 2026).
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center. Empowering Small Business: The Impact of Technology on U.S. Small Business (Aug 2025).
- UiPath. UiPath Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2027 Financial Results (Sep 2026).
- UiPath. UiPath Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2026 Financial Results (Mar 2026).
- Zapier. Zapier Survey Finds 84% of Enterprises Plan to Boost AI Agent Investment (Dec 2025).
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DBotMaker. (2026, November 6). Workflow Automation Statistics 2026. https://dbotmaker.io/workflow-automation-statistics
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