Live webinar
Why Vertical AI Makes the Difference: New 2026 Data
New research from 1,500+ business and IT leaders shows how and why vertical AI outperforms generic tools. In this webinar, our experts explain the findings and actionable steps you can take to improve your business’s AI outcomes.
August 26 | 11 AM EDT / 8 AM PDT
Save Your Seat
Can't make it live? Register and we'll send you the recording.
Register Now
Nearly every company you compete with has already adopted AI, but almost none of them have fully realized its value.
Aptean commissioned Vanson Bourne to survey over 1,500 business and IT decision-makers across food and beverage, fashion and apparel, transportation and distribution, discrete and process manufacturing, and equipment dealers. As a company built on industry-specific software with AI built in, we wanted to know why generic AI tools were falling short; and how purpose-built, vertical AI actually makes a difference in business outcomes. 
The findings:
- 98% of organizations are using or implementing AI, but only 46% say it's integrated into or essential to their core workflows
- 88% of businesses say vertical AI is very important or critical, but only 48% are currently using it
- Companies that use both general-purpose and vertical AI solutions perform better than those using general-purpose tools alone on 8 of 8 operational metrics measured
Those statistics are just the beginning of vertical AI’s story.
To learn more, join our webinar on August 26 where Jason Balma, AI Solutions Architect, walks through the data and what it means for businesses like yours, while Kathleen Walch, AI Governance and Execution Advisor, weighs in on what she's seeing play out with clients in real time and the approaches that support success.
What you'll learn:
- Why the generic AI tool most teams picked first is holding them back—77% now say general-purpose AI can't handle the complexity of large operations
- Where AI rollouts break down—82% say the real fight is integrating AI with their core systems, and 80% of respondents agree data quality and/or access is the greatest barrier to implementation
- How much decision-making authority organizations have already handed to AI, often without anyone formally signing off, and the associated risks
- Why organizations pairing vertical AI with general-purpose tools outperformed general-purpose-only users on every one of the eight operational metrics we tracked, from forecast accuracy to customer retention
Meet Your Experts
Jason Balma
AI Solutions Architect
Jason has spent over a decade at the intersection of enterprise systems, professional services, and go-to-market strategy. Seven years in professional services — leading ERP implementations, guiding customers through transformation, and managing consulting teams — gave him the foundation to move into presales, where he translated business challenges into practical, value-driven solutions. In 2025, he founded Aptean Intelligence as a Service, where he now leads a team designing and delivering AI solutions built to solve real business problems — not experiments, not hype. His focus: applied AI, embedded intelligence, and operational use cases that drive efficiency, insight, and competitive advantage.
Kathleen Walch
AI Governance & Execution Advisor
Kathleen helps leaders move past the hype and turn AI adoption into real business results. For over a decade, she's helped organizations find the right problems to solve, apply AI responsibly, build trust in AI systems, and put it to work in practical, measurable ways. A trusted voice on AI adoption, governance, responsible AI, and AI-first leadership, she co-created a widely adopted, vendor-neutral methodology for managing AI projects, hosts the AI Today podcast, and contributes regularly to CIO and TechTarget.
