Artificial intelligence creates new digital divide in business world

Businesses allocate budgets to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and provide access to workers, while usage restrictions and the widespread adoption of generative AI in the business world create a new source of inequality, as the trend shifted from whether a company uses AI to how much money and time they spend on the technology.

The gap in AI usage among companies became more pronounced, according to the US-based corporate spending platform Ramp AI Index.

Companies in the top 1% of AI expenditures spend around $7,450 per employee every month, while companies in the top 10% spend $611, and the median company’s monthly AI spending per worker is $11.38.

This trend showed that access to AI in the business world transformed from a standard tool into a competitive factor highly varying depending on financial funds, technology strategy, and risk appetite.

Some firms are able to offer workers multiple AI models, coding agents, API-based tools, and enterprise subscriptions, while others are limited to basic subscriptions or have to restrict usage due to data security, copyright, customer sensitivity, and regulatory risks.

Companies had some reservations in AI adoption, according to the OECD’s November 2025 report on generative AI for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The report found 31% of SMEs use generative AI, while companies that did not use generative AI cited that the technology was deemed unsuitable for their use cases, as well as other factors like copyright, legal, and regulatory issues, and more.

The report showed that only 28.6% of SMEs using generative AI prepared usage guidelines for their workers, so the use of AI in companies often occurred via individual initiative instead of through comprehensive policies.

The lack of guidelines increases the risk of uncontrolled use, as employees using AI tools without company approval or guidance can lead to risks like the transfer of corporate data to external systems, the involvement of copyrighted content into business dealings, and the use of potentially erroneous outputs in decision-making.

McKinsey’s January 2025 report on AI in the workplace showed workers expect more support and training during the transition, and while a significant portion of firms plan to increase AI investment, there is a need for corporate guidance, training, and support mechanisms to ensure employees can use AI tools efficiently and safely.

The McKinsey report showed that workers often adopt generative AI tools faster than managers expect, arising the need for implementing usage policies, skill-development programs, and risk management mechanisms as simply investing in the technology is not enough.

Experts say that the inequality stemming from the AI transition can come to the fore among companies and among workers, as workers with access to enterprise subscriptions and training can gain greater benefits, while those with limited access or unclear guidelines may be left behind.

Companies are putting in the effort to expand the use of AI tools to boost productivity but also restrict their use to manage privacy, security, copyright, accuracy, and accountability issues.

* Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul.