Lenovo AI announced new research revealing that 96% of AI deployments in the retail sector are meeting or exceeding expectations. This outpaces other industries, including finance and healthcare, where results remain mixed.

The CIO Playbook 2025, Lenovo’s study of EMEA IT leaders in partnership with IDC, uncovered differences in AI adoption, investment strategies, and outcomes across Retail, Healthcare, and Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) sectors.

BFSI showed caution in AI adoption, with only 7% of organisations implementing AI and 38% of AI budgets allocated to Generative AI in 2025. However, 33% of projects exceeded expectations, highlighting effective alignment with workloads. Retail organisations, though 61% still in pilot phases, reported the highest satisfaction rate of AI deployments at 96%.

Healthcare, by contrast, plans a 169% increase in AI spending for 2025. Despite this rapid investment, it currently has the lowest AI adoption and highest proportion of projects falling short, suggesting a need for stronger expertise and guidance.

Simone Larsson, Head of Enterprise AI at Lenovo, said, “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to AI. Businesses must identify challenges, develop plans, and align strategies to succeed.”

The CIO Playbook 2025 provides IT leaders with insights on AI strategy, infrastructure, and transformation priorities across EMEA. The full report, featuring research from 620 IT decision-makers in nine markets, can be downloaded from Lenovo.

Key Points:

• Retail leads with 96% of AI deployments meeting or exceeding expectations.
• BFSI cautious but effective, with 33% of AI projects surpassing goals.
• Healthcare plans 169% AI spending growth but faces implementation challenges.

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