Every major sector of the American economy is now deploying AI into decisions that carry real financial, legal, clinical, reputational consequences. Enterprise spending on generative AI reached an estimated $37 billion in 2025, more than tripling year-over-year, and worldwide AI spending is projected to reach $2.5 trillion by 2027. But the institutions and processes that have traditionally helped industries scale with public confidence, such as shared standards, independent verification, and clear lines of accountability, haven’t kept pace. That gap is already shaping adoption decisions, liability exposure, and regulatory outcomes across the economy.
Over the past several months, we’ve been talking with leaders across industries, including healthcare, financial services, real estate, and the emerging field of AI assurance itself to understand how organizations are actually navigating this environment. What we saw, consistently, was impressive work being done under genuinely difficult structural conditions, as well as a shared recognition that no single organization can build the earned trust infrastructure the economy needs.