TraceGains’ 2026 AI Readiness & Governance Survey reveals a disconnect between the percentage of companies with formal AI initiatives in place (41%) and levels of informal AI adoption within the workforce.
While enterprises continue to move with caution toward formal AI adoption, prioritizing data security, accuracy and compliance for AI solutions, individual workers are moving ahead with publicly available tools, raising questions around governance.
“The highly regulated food and beverage industry is entering a pivotal moment with AI,” says John Thorpe, senior director of product management, TraceGains. “Brands recognize the opportunity AI offers, but are asking smart questions about intellectual property and governance. At the same time, some workers want to move faster, with less concern for risk. The good news is that secure AI tools exist, but organizations who aren’t leveraging enterprise AI need to look carefully at whether shadow AI usage could be taking its place and evaluate those risks.”
Key takeaways:
· TraceGains research suggests organizations may be underestimating the extent to which employees are already leveraging AI tools.
· When asked about their use of AI technologies within compliance and new product development (NPD) workflows, more than half (59%) reported their organizations do not have enterprise-level AI technologies in place today. These findings contrast with workforce studies suggesting employee AI usage may be moving at a faster pace than enterprise adoption.
· When asked about the biggest obstacles preventing wider AI adoption, 30% cited concerns around AI accuracy and trustworthiness; 25% pointed to enterprise-grade security and data protection requirements; 24% identified regulatory and compliance safeguards as a key concern; and only 15% are hopeful about AI’s potential value in improving decision-making through better insights.
- 40% identified disconnected systems and data as the No. 1 operational barrier preventing food and beverage teams from moving faster.
- Just 9% described their organizations as fully connected across teams and functions.
- At the same time, 34% believe end-to-end traceability will define the next era of F&B operations.
- 32% expect real-time connected data to become the industry’s next major operational priority.
