A survey commissioned by AWS found that AI adoption among Japanese companies rose to 54% from 43% a year earlier. The survey covered 1,000 business leaders and 1,000 members of the general public in Japan.
The survey was conducted under the theme of opening up the future of AI in Japan. It found that the number of companies using AI had increased and that approximately 1.98 million Japanese companies had already adopted AI. The findings were published in a joint report by AWS and Strand Partners.
Among companies using AI, 81% reported higher productivity, 55% reported increased revenue and 44% said they had achieved returns exceeding their initial investment. The share of adopters reaching the stage considered most transformative rose to 19% in 2025 from 13%.
Meanwhile, 60% of adopters remained at the stage of basic use or incremental efficiency gains, down from 72% in 2025. Regarding adoption of next-generation AI, only 18% of companies said they were fully or very well prepared, while a shortage of AI and digital skills, cited by 41%, was the biggest constraint.
Among companies familiar with agentic AI, 68% believe it will be extremely important in addressing labor shortages over the next 10 years.