The State of AI Friction: Why Enterprise AI Deployment is Slower, Costlier, and More Limited Than Expected

Enterprise AI adoption is not being held back by lack of investment, interest, or technical ambition. According to EMA’s April 2026 primary research survey of 152 IT and security leaders, 82.9% of organizations report that security or compliance reviews have delayed AI projects from moving into production — and among those experiencing delays, most are stalled for a month or longer. More than 80% report deploying AI agents in a diminished state at least occasionally because of security concerns. The problem is not starting AI projects. The problem is the friction they face getting to full production value.