How Nordic companies invest in AI – and why the return doesn't follow

A new report from Boston Consulting Group, based on interviews with more than 300 executives and managers at mid- and large-cap Nordic companies, puts words to something many have sensed: Nordic companies are investing heavily in AI, but few see it reflected in the results. The report, published in March 2026, goes further than simply naming the gap – it points to a concrete explanation for why it exists.

High expectations, thin returns

Only 4 percent of the Nordic companies in the study see what BCG calls meaningful return – at least five times their AI investment back – on a par with global and European competitors. At the same time, expectations for AI's impact by 2029 are two to three times higher among Nordic companies than among their global peers: companies expect revenue growth of roughly 30 percent and cost reductions of around 25 percent.

That combination is what BCG warns about. High expectations without matching returns create what the report calls a possible "value bubble" – a risk that investment keeps growing on promise rather than proven results.

Where the money goes

The explanation BCG highlights isn't about how much is invested, but what it's invested in. Nordic companies put a disproportionate share of their AI investment – between 40 and 50 percent – into off-the-shelf, generic productivity tools. Among global and European competitors, the equivalent share is only 8 to 11 percent.

The difference lies in what's being bought. An off-the-shelf tool gives the same function to everyone who buys the licence, rarely built around how your particular company actually works. The companies that see the strongest returns instead invest more in what BCG calls transformative, end-to-end use cases: solutions built around a specific process, start to finish, inside their own operations.

What it means for smaller companies

BCG's data comes from mid- and large-cap companies, but the logic holds further down the size scale too. A subscription to a generic AI tool is easy to buy and rarely builds a lasting advantage, since a competitor can buy the same thing. The real difference shows up when AI is built around a task that actually costs you time today: how you handle quotes, sort leads, or put together reports.

That doesn't have to mean a large, expensive project. It means picking a well-defined process, understanding it properly, and building something that fits it – rather than buying a licence and hoping it happens to fit.

Where Nodal comes in

That's the core of how we work: we help companies build internal systems and AI around the workflows that actually take time day to day, built for how you already work, and owned by you.

Has your AI spending so far gone toward off-the-shelf tools, or toward something built for your business? Get in touch with us at Nodal, and we'll talk through where a first, well-scoped project would do the most good.