Chart of the Week: AI’s Competitive Edge

Every past technological revolution has created enormous opportunities.

But they also had a way of exposing weaknesses that were easy to ignore when times were good.

The AI revolution is no exception.

Companies embracing artificial intelligence are finding new ways to become faster, leaner and more productive than ever before.

But today’s chart shows how the economy is beginning to separate tomorrow’s winners from yesterday’s business models.

A More Demanding Economy

Our chart this week comes from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

I think you’ll agree that the numbers are striking.

During the first six months of 2026, 372 large U.S. companies filed for bankruptcy. That’s already the highest midyear total in at least 16 years.

And the trend isn’t limited to large corporations.

According to data from the American Bankruptcy Institute, small-business bankruptcies jumped 50% during the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2025.

Those figures undoubtedly reflect a difficult economy.

Higher interest rates have made borrowing more expensive. Consumers have become more selective about how they spend their money. And after years of rising costs, many companies are discovering that today’s business environment is far less forgiving than it was just a few years ago.

Investors have become more demanding as well.

Recent selloffs in AI-related stocks suggest that Wall Street is becoming less impressed by massive AI infrastructure spending. Investors want evidence that the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into AI will translate into stronger earnings and higher productivity.

That’s why I shared this chart today.

You see, every period of economic stress forces businesses to make difficult decisions. They streamline operations, cut unnecessary expenses and rethink how work gets done.

But these days companies have a powerful new tool to help them survive a bad economy.

Artificial intelligence.

We’re already seeing businesses use AI to write software, answer customer questions, analyze contracts, automate repetitive tasks and help employees accomplish more in less time.

It’s not replacing every worker, but companies that successfully integrate AI can often accomplish the same amount of work with fewer resources.

And in an economy where every dollar matters, it gives these companies a meaningful competitive advantage.

But don’t just take it from me.

In one of the largest workplace studies conducted so far, researchers tracked more than 5,000 customer-service agents at a Fortune 500 software company.

Workers using an AI assistant resolved 15% more customer problems per hour on average. The gains were even larger among newer and less-skilled employees, who were able to adopt the habits of their more experienced colleagues much faster.

Another experiment followed 758 consultants at Boston Consulting Group.

When they used GPT-4 for tasks suited to the technology, the consultants completed their work more than 25% faster, finished 12% more tasks and produced results that were rated substantially higher in quality.

Those are meaningful improvements.

And they suggest that AI can help companies serve more customers, complete more projects and bring less-experienced employees up to speed without adding the same amount of overhead.

During a difficult economy, that could make the difference between a company that merely survives and one that comes out on the other side stronger than ever.

Here’s My Take

Tough times have a way of creating stronger businesses.

Meaning, the companies that figure out how to do more with less today could be the ones that lead tomorrow.

I think AI could help many of them do exactly that.

The businesses that embrace it won’t simply reduce costs. They’ll rethink how products are designed, how customer service is delivered and how work gets done across their entire organizations.

That’s one of the reasons I’m so optimistic about the long-term future of AI.

Because it could help businesses adapt faster than ever before.

Regards,

Ian KingChief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing

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