Nvidia, Meta, Walmart among top companies in adopting AI

It seems every company is obsessed with artificial intelligence these days, whether it’s how the technology is transforming their industry or its effects on employees and customers.

But the degree to which companies are using AI tools internally and adapting to a rapidly changing reality varies dramatically. A new study from AI-Driven Enterprise Institute, or AIDE, breaks down the extent to which S&P 500 companies — and their leaders — are adopting AI compared with their peers.

The top performers, unsurprisingly, are centered in the tech industry, according to the data, which was shared with CNBC. In looking at four areas — literacy, advocacy, orientation and implementation — AIDE gave each company a score of up to 100 in the four categories and then provided an overall index score.

In information technology, the highest company score — the average of the orientation and implementation pillars — and the only 100, went to chipmaker Nvidia, which has become the world’s largest company by selling the chips and systems that have powered the development of AI models and services. Meta and Amazon also scored 100, but in the S&P 500, those companies are considered communication services and consumer discretionary names, respectively.

The only other 100 company score went to energy producer SLB, formerly Schlumberger. The next highest scorer was retailer Walmart, followed by AES and NextEra Energy, which are both classified as utilities.

The new open-source index draws from publicly available data such as earnings call transcripts, job openings and patent applications to measure how much executives know and say about AI, as well as how much their companies are prioritizing the technology and bringing it into daily operations.

The data doesn’t measure whether AI is driving financial returns, but it’s meant to give leaders an objective way to compare their strategy to that of their peers without relying on self-reported surveys, said Paul Cheek, AIDE’s CEO and a senior lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“When a board asks a CEO — ‘How are we doing compared to our peer group?’ — I don’t want it to be speculative,” Cheek said in an interview. “I want there to be some data that they can use to back up what they have to share.”

Cheek said there’s “significant room for improvement” for board members and executives to increase their own AI literacy, adding that boards need to better understand AI “as it relates to the ability to manage risk and strategic investments in the organizations that create value for all of us.”

Here are the 20 companies with the top company scores, based on their orientation and implementation scores:

Nvidia (100)SLB (100)Amazon (100)Meta (100)Walmart (95.84)AES (95.46)NextEra Energy (95.44)Ecolab (95)Digital Realty (94.74)Chevron (94.74)Alphabet (94.72)Equinix (94.59)IQVIA (93.75)Dow (93.34)Halliburton (92.83)Broadridge Financial Solutions (91.66)Microsoft (91.37)Block (90.91)Duke Energy (90.91)PepsiCo (90.62)

These companies were at the top of their sector based on the AIDE index score:

Correction: Energy producer SLB was given a company score of 100 and ranked highest in its sector based on the AIDE index score on AI-Driven Enterprise Institute’s list of top companies in adopting artificial intelligence. A previous version of this article and a previous headline referred to the company using its former name.

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