The survey, the first to focus on enterprise adoption of AI for commerce, found significant gaps in AI adoption between micro, small and medium enterprises and large enterprises, as well as between businesses in high-income and low/lower-middle income economies. In high-income economies, 66 percent of businesses reported adopting AI, compared to 27 percent in low- and middle-income economies.
The survey further revealed that large enterprises mainly use AI to comply with business rules, while micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) focus on business intelligence and communications. Businesses in low- and middle-income economies further reported leveraging AI to expand international trade. This highlights the potential of AI to drive inclusive participation in global trade by improving access to trade information, trade compliance tools and knowledge of preferential trade agreements, helping to close the AI adoption gap.
Among companies using AI, the survey found that nearly 90% reported benefits in their commerce-related activities. Specifically, 22 percent saw efficiency and productivity gains, 14 percent observed better decision-making, 10 percent benefited from an expanded export base, and 17 percent expanded their import and export product range. The survey also shows that AI has the potential to help companies adapt to complex business rules and gain more from trade agreements. Three-quarters of responses indicate that companies are using AI for various customs-related applications, and 20 percent indicated that they are using AI to identify trade compliance risks.
The survey also identified businesses’ concerns about AI and barriers to its adoption. Businesses have reported uncertainty and fragmentation in regulation, particularly data policies, as key challenges.
Nearly a fifth of responses (19 percent) cited regulatory uncertainty as a major concern. Meanwhile, 12 percent highlighted regulatory or compliance challenges as a major obstacle. Additionally, 7% cited regulatory heterogeneity as a challenge to AI adoption, showing how regulatory fragmentation can create barriers to cross-border AI adoption. A third of responses on cross-border regulatory challenges related to AI highlighted that adapting to different data privacy requirements was the most important issue. Additionally, 64% of companies adopting AI said they expect at least a 5% impact on their compliance costs due to different data protection regulations.
Companies also cited technical readiness as a concern: 14% of responses reported difficulty accessing high-quality data to train AI systems, while 14% cited limited AI expertise or skills as a challenge.
The full report is available here. Some of the first findings were reported in the World Trade Report 2025.