2025 GRIT Business & Innovation Report

The annual GRIT Business & Innovation Report is your guide to important trends shaping the world of research, analytics, and insights. Innovation plays a key role in our industry, and the annual GRIT Top 50 Most Innovative Suppliers list celebrates the major players.

This edition of the GRIT Report captures an industry in transition, where technology suppliers continue to surge ahead while service-led firms navigate new pressures from automation, self-serve, and low-cost competitors. As AI moves from experimentation to integration, the report examines who’s thriving, who’s struggling, and what separates the two.

Major themes:

GenAI Fuels a Shift in Confidence and Capability

Experience with generative AI varies across the industry. Technology providers report higher satisfaction, while buyers move more cautiously. Newer professionals show the most optimism—a sign of shifting perspectives and comfort with change. Is this difference about workflows, governance, exposure, or who bears the risk?

Tech Disruption Redefines What Success Looks Like for Suppliers

Among service-led firms, those that fell short of their goals were far more likely to cite client self-serve, AI tools, and platform competitors as adverse impacts. The firms exceeding goals, however, may be confronting these same shifts head-on—finding ways to adapt their value and stay competitive. How should suppliers cope with these threats?

Optimism Diverges, but Momentum Remains

Company optimism has held steady among technology providers but continues to decline for many service-led firms—especially smaller ones. The pattern suggests a widening confidence gap, yet also signals where renewed focus and innovation could reignite growth. How can service-led suppliers reverse the slide?

AI Integration Moves Beyond Experimentation

Experience with AI tools is now nearly universal across buyers, service-led suppliers, and technology providers. Beyond widespread adoption, usage patterns vary as organizations align their tools to enterprise systems and development needs. The focus is shifting from testing to integration—and from exploration to measurable performance. Is your organization still testing, or truly transforming with AI?

Pressure Mounts, but Scale Drives Innovation

Lower-cost competitors weigh most heavily on the largest service-led firms, yet these same companies are also leading the way in GenAI integration—matching technology providers in adoption. The data suggests that size can create vulnerability, but also the capacity to innovate at scale. Does size exacerbate vulnerability—or should smaller suppliers pay more attention to these threats?

About the results:

The GRIT Report gathers data from insights professionals around the world. We break down each topic into brand-side and supplier-side segments to provide you with the granularity that enables you to grow your business and advance your career.