AI rewards expertise (at least for now). Expertise lets you judge AI output quality and find the shape of the jagged frontier quickly. It also gives you more options for how to try to improve quality by knowing what changes to ask for. Non-experts are often stuck with defaults.
AI adoption is spreading far beyond tech:
80.6% of US technology and media businesses now have paid AI subscriptions, the highest percentage on record.
Finance and insurance companies follow at 73.1%, up from ~60.0% in December 2025.
Meanwhile, 60.4% of US manufacturing firms are paying for AI subscriptions, their highest proportion on record and the 3rd-highest among major sectors.
This percentage has nearly doubled since the start of 2025.
Over the same period, the proportion of retail companies paying for AI subscriptions has risen +20 percentage points, to a record 49%.
Non-tech firms are now quickly adopting AI.
AI Cloud Firm Nscale Seeks $3.5 Billion In Pre-IPO Financing
- Said To Target About $2 Bln Financing From Nvidia
- Said To Seek Up To $1.5 Bln In Convertible Notes
AI infrastructure and standalone 5G will drive demand for denser mobile networks, offsetting a wave of consolidation among European telecom operators, according to Cellnex