A survey of companies with annual revenue of ¥50 billion or more found that, although AI adoption significantly reduced working hours in B2B sales, improvement in business results remained at 14.5%. Advanced companies are prioritizing SFA/CRM data quality improvement and integration, along with redesigning the entire sales process.
A report summarizing the results of a survey of 200 department manager-level and above employees responsible for B2B sales, sales planning and DX initiatives at companies with annual revenue of ¥50 billion or more has been published. The survey was conducted online from 14 to 21 July 2026 by 市場開発研究所.
The most frequently cited benefit of AI adoption was reduced working hours (53.0%). Meanwhile, only 14.5% of companies reported improved business results, such as order win rates and sales, indicating a significant gap between efficiency gains and business outcomes.
The most frequently cited challenges were insufficient AI literacy among frontline employees and a shortage of personnel capable of operating AI systems, at 37.5% each. The lack of a data infrastructure and the absence of standardized business rules were also cited.
The most frequently cited next investment priority was SFA/CRM data quality improvement and integration (46.5%), followed by strong interest in redesigning the entire sales process (41.0%). Frontline and planning roles showed similar trends, with data and systems infrastructure expected to be the central focus of investment.