More companies miss revenue targets as AI and volatility reshape B2B growth

More B2B companies are falling short of revenue expectations despite rising confidence and aggressive growth targets, according to new research from Bain & Company.

The consultancy’s latest B2B Growth Agenda report, based on a survey of more than 1,100 global senior executives across 18 industries, points to a widening disconnect between ambition and execution as firms grapple with AI disruption and geopolitical uncertainty.

While 86% of executives expected to meet their growth targets in 2025, 42% ultimately missed them – up from 32% the year before. Yet confidence remains high, with 91% of leaders expecting to hit their 2026 goals and projecting revenue growth rates 20% higher than last year.

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“Volatility is now a constant condition for B2B companies, not a temporary disruption,” said Jamie Cleghorn, global head of Bain’s customer practice. “Leaders are setting high growth ambitions, but many are still operating with commercial models that can’t keep pace with how quickly their markets and available technology are changing. The gap between ambition and performance is widening, and closing it requires faster, more adaptive execution and a fundamentally more responsive commercial system.”

AI adoption rises, but impact remains uneven

The report highlights AI as a critical lever for growth – but one that most companies are not yet equipped to scale effectively.

Although 90% of executives say they are experimenting with AI, 60% admit their data foundations or technology stacks are not ready, limiting meaningful returns.

Top-performing organisations are pulling ahead by embedding AI directly into commercial workflows, redesigning processes end-to-end, and assigning clear ownership. These companies are seeing twice the AI-driven revenue growth and 1.8 times greater cost efficiency than their peers.

“While just about every company across industries is experimenting with AI, experimentation alone doesn’t drive results,” said Rob Stein, a partner in Bain’s customer strategy and marketing practice. “Leading companies realise that simplifying and standardising legacy manual workflows within their go-to-market is the critical first step to ensuring that AI and automation drive a step change in results. Combining process redesign with targeted AI use case development and robust change management efforts is the key to success.”

Differentiation emerges as a critical growth bottleneck

Beyond technology, Bain’s findings suggest a more fundamental issue: most companies struggle to clearly articulate why customers should choose them.

Just 4% of executives said their organisation has a well-defined and consistently understood value proposition. Nearly half identified core product or service differentiation as their biggest challenge.

The impact is material. Companies with a clear value proposition reported 19% revenue growth in 2025, compared with 12% among those without one. Brand perception is also becoming a decisive factor, with nearly 40% of revenue and margin leaders citing it as key to winning and retaining customers.

Volatility reshapes sector priorities

The report also underscores how macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures are reshaping commercial priorities across industries.

Healthcare and life sciences firms are contending with sustained pricing pressure, while technology, media, and telecom companies are focusing on customer acquisition and retention in fast-moving markets. Banks are prioritising sales productivity and go-to-market modernisation, while advanced manufacturing and services sectors face intensifying execution pressures across complex value chains.

Across sectors, Bain argues that companies need a more adaptive commercial playbook – one that can rapidly translate market signals into action, with AI serving as a key accelerator rather than a standalone solution.

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