A new study conducted by IDC on behalf of Intel find that Agentic AI, meaning artificial intelligence that enables more autonomous decision-making and proactive execution of tasks, is gaining traction among Canadian companies. In fact, Canadian companies lead in this space in the Americas.
The study finds that 16.3% of organizations are experimenting with Agentic AI, the highest level of Agentic AI adoption measured in the Americas region. Nearly half (47%) of Canadian respondents see Agentic AI as transformational and capable of driving major or meaningful advances across their organizations.
Additionally, more than half of the Canadian companies that participated in the study reported active use of both traditional AI (54.7%) and generative AI (52.4%) technologies, just below the regional adoption averages of 56.2% and 56.1%, respectively.
“Canada is leaning into the future of AI in a way that could set it apart,” says Asma Aziz, General Manager, Intel Canada. “The study confirms what we are seeing on the ground: AI is already transforming business outcomes, with the majority of respondents reporting up to 49 per cent performance improvements in targeted activities.”
However, Aziz adds that the positive results are “tempered by challenges, particularly around data readiness. While data is the most critical asset in the AI journey, too often, it proves to be the Achilles’ heel.”
According to the study, a little over half (54.68%) of internal data is considered available for AI models and analysis as cited by Canadian respondents. This is just shy of the regional average (55.3%), indicating that many organizations still face significant data accessibility challenges. However, there is a silver lining: only 14.7% of Canadian companies have not yet started or planned to run a data asset inventory, the lowest proportion of companies compared to the regional average (35.8%).
“Canadian companies exhibit a higher degree of AI maturity and pragmatism, excelling in experimenting with new AI technologies, with 56 per cent of organizations feeling extremely or highly prepared to leverage AI,” adds Aziz. “With continued investment in infrastructure, data governance, and workforce skills, Canada can move from being an early adopter to a global leader. Intel’s technology, from the AI PC and Edge to the Cloud and Data Centre, is one of the key enablers of unlocking the full value of AI.”
The study also found that Canada is heavily focused on customer support. IT operations was cited across the board as the top business function to reap the benefits from Agentic AI, followed by security. Canada stood out among the countries in the region for prioritizing customer service and support as the second most important use case for the technology, reflecting a client-centric approach in the application of AI.
Over three quarters of Canadian respondents (76.8%) see real-time analytics and insights as the most beneficial outcome of Edge computing. Accordingly, IT investment in Edge computing is expected to grow from 16.1% to 16.6% of IT budgets over the next 12 months, the highest in the region.
Canada scored 4.07/5 on the combined measure of government and socio-economic impact on AI-adoption, second only to the U.S. Nearly six-in-10 Canadian respondents point to government R&D funding (56.9%) and data privacy and regulation (57.8%) as the most significant AI enablers.
The study, commissioned by Intel to IDC, was designed to assess the AI adoption readiness among mid- and large-sized organizations with over 500 employees across the Americas region, including Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the U.S., covering 15 industry sectors. Fielded in June 2025, the study includes responses from over 460 companies, including 102 based in Canada and that already use AI. All respondents in the study are decision-makers within their organizations, holding positions at the C-level, vice president, directors, or head of unit.