Accounts payable is entering a new era. After years of focusing on digitization and process automation, organizations are now applying artificial intelligence to improve decision-making, accelerate workflows, and transform AP into a more intelligent, data-driven business function.
This article series is based on the findings from State of AP 2026: AI Rising, a new research report sponsored by Medius and xSuite. Drawing on the perspectives of 194 accounts payable, P2P, and finance leaders, the research explores how organizations are adopting AI, where they are realizing the greatest value, the operational challenges they continue to face, and the capabilities that distinguish top-performing AP organizations.
Throughout this series, we’ll examine the report’s most important findings, including the current state of AP, emerging AI use cases, automation trends, AI readiness and maturity, and the strategies leading organizations are using to prepare for more autonomous finance operations. Whether your organization is beginning its AI journey or expanding existing initiatives, these articles will provide research-backed insights to help guide the next phase of AP transformation.
In Part Five of our series, we’re looking at the scale and speed of AI adoption across the AP market.
The AP AI Maturity Curve
One of the most significant findings in this year’s research is the scale and speed of AI adoption across the AP market. 58% of AP organizations are now actively using or piloting AI. That number represents a genuine market shift, one that reflects committed action rather than cautious experimentation. The cautious pilots, prolonged evaluations, and budget deferrals that characterized the market just a few years ago have given way to meaningful action across a majority of the profession.
The distribution across maturity stages tells the deeper story. The largest single cohort sits in the piloting phase at 34%, testing AI within defined use cases and business processes with clear intent to expand. These organizations have moved beyond curiosity and into practical application. They are learning what works, what does not, and what organizational changes are required to support broader adoption. In many ways, they represent the center of gravity of today’s AP AI market.
The 23% actively deploying AI across multiple functions represent the market’s current vanguard. These organizations have moved beyond proof-of-concept efforts and are integrating AI into the daily operations of their AP teams. Their experience offers the clearest preview available of where the broader market is heading. The lessons emerging from this group consistently point to three priorities: data quality, governance, and the expansion of AI beyond invoice processing into areas such as payments, cash management, and operational decision-making.
The 30% in the exploratory phase are not behind by definition. Many are approaching AI with appropriate deliberateness, conducting vendor evaluations, assessing data readiness, and building the internal alignment required to act decisively. The risk for this group is not moving slowly. It is failing to convert exploration into action. Organizations that emerge from this phase with a clear use-case roadmap, realistic expectations, and a governance framework already in place will be better positioned to scale AI successfully.
The 11% who consider AI not currently a priority represent a smaller but still meaningful segment of the market. Their position may reflect competing priorities, resource constraints, or a considered decision to let others absorb the early adoption risk. Not every organization needs to deploy AI immediately. Every organization, however, should be paying attention. The pace of innovation, investment, and adoption is simply too rapid to ignore. Even for organizations that choose to wait, now is the time to learn, evaluate, and prepare.
Access this exclusive research today by downloading the State of AP 2026: AI Rising report now.
