The Nordic AI Adoption 2026 Report gathers insights from 300 Nordic-based business leaders across different sectors to understand how AI ambition is translating into governance, oversight, and risk management.
The research found that half of Nordic businesses (49%) have already implemented AI in some form, with a further quarter (24%) reporting to be in the early stages of implementation. One in eight businesses (14%) have fully operationalised AI.
In the Nordics, AI is also being deployed across a wide range of business functions — its most popular use is supporting IT operations (43%), followed by using AI to support chatbots and personal assistants (42%), and AI use in documents and meetings (38%) rounds off the top three reasons for using AI in the region. In addition to this, one in five firms (21%) are using AI for fraud detection and a similar number are using it for HR management and recruitment (23%), demonstrating that AI tools can add value to more complex tasks.
Nordic businesses are already seeing results, with three quarters of the businesses using AI (74%) reporting a positive impact on revenue, and around half of the businesses (49%) tracking return on investment, giving a clear direction on how AI can improve efficiency. The majority of businesses using AI also confirmed a positive impact on employee productivity (83%). The research also revealed how long business leaders expect to wait for a return on their investment. In the Nordics, this AI sentiment was particularly positive compared to global views, with the value of AI expected to outweigh the cost in just over two years (26 months).
Business leaders report being alert to risks, despite over half of Nordic businesses reporting seeing AI as an opportunity
Despite the majority of Nordic business leaders viewing AI as an opportunity, they also recognise the potential risks associated with it. Businesses identified errors and hallucinations topped as the top AI-related risks (57%), followed by legal and reputational risks (52%), and a decline in employee engagement (50%).
Top AI-related risks posed to Nordic businesses
| Risks | Nordics |
| Errors, misinformation, and AI hallucinations | 57% |
| Legal and reputational risk due to AI misuse or errors | 52% |
| Decline in employee engagement / change fatigue | 50% |
| Over-reliance and loss of commonsense reasoning | 50% |
| Increased threat of privacy violations / data breaches | 49% |
| Ethical risk / poor accountability and governance | 48% |
| Greater vulnerability to cyberattacks and fraud | 48% |
| Job insecurity / displacement and industrial action | 46% |
| Algorithm bias / discrimination | 45% |
| Reduced trust in leadership | 43% |
| Shareholder action because of poor return on investment | 41% |
Gallagher 2026 Attitudes to AI Adoption and Risk Survey
AI impact on the workforce
Leaders in the Nordics noted the impact that AI is likely to have on headcount, with one in four (24%) having already made saving using AI, and with a further third (31%) saying they expect to do so in the future.
Firms appear confident in sharing their belief in AI with their workforces. Over half of Nordic firms (51%) state they have shared their strategy, 52% stated they had implemented policies and guidance in place, and 45% invested in employee training, indicating a strong belief that AI is a part of the business's future. However, many businesses still have a way to go when it comes to mapping governance and security, with only a third (37%) reviewing risk management practices in relation to AI and a similar number (39%) conducting ethical impact assessments.
Commenting on the impact of AI adoption, Steve Rhee, Global Chief Digital Officer at Gallagher, said: "Nordic business leaders are welcoming the potential benefits of AI adoption, with the vast majority seeing it as a positive opportunity for their company. Intentions are clear and businesses have moved quickly to communicate ambitions internally, with over half having already set out an AI strategy to their workforce.
"However, despite the confidence, many organisations remain in planning mode when it comes to AI governance, with formal AI policies, frameworks and incident plans still being measured. This poses significant risks — cyber, legal, societal, reputational, and beyond — which leave many businesses vulnerable and it is crucial that they now translate this into robust governance, oversight, and risk management frameworks that help protect them from the associated risks."
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About the report
Nordic AI Adoption 2026 Report is based on Gallagher's global survey, 2026 Attitudes to AI Adoption and Risks survey, which was undertaken by Opinium in November and December 2025. The respondents were 1,250 business leaders in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, the Nordics (Sweden, Denmark, Finland), South Korea, and Republic of Ireland.