Blue = what AI can theoretically do.
Red = what it’s actually doing today.
That gap is substantial across segments.
Business & Finance, Management, and Legal. AI can absolutely perform in these categories, the blue extends way out.
But adoption hasn’t caught up.
Why? Trust, relationships, institutional inertia.
These industries don’t just move on capability alone, they need confidence from past success cases.
And we’re not there yet.
Computer & Math has the highest observed usage at ~33% of tasks, and that’s only a third of what’s possible.
Also in the first inning. Full stop.
Sales is barely a blip on observed coverage.
As someone who’s spent their career in revenue leadership, this tells me most sales orgs are still treating AI like a better search engine instead of rethinking their entire GTM motion and re-engineering the architecture of it.
Huge miss!
No systematic unemployment increase, but hiring for 22-25 year olds in exposed roles has started to slow.
The signal is that companies are realizing they can do more with fewer new junior hires.
Bottom line is that red area will grow.
Every quarter, every new model release, every workflow that gets automated, it expands.
If you’re a founder or revenue leader, this chart should be your strategic planning framework for the next 18 months.
The white space between theoretical and observed is where the next wave of competitive advantage lives.
Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t
