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Nearly 300 business decision-makers supplied the benchmark. Most expect existing employees to do more with AI, while seeking funding and technical help from the state.
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The Maryland State Innovation Team’s June–July survey of nearly 300 senior decision-makers, released October 1, 2026, shows AI adoption is broad but often shallow: 91% reported some use, while 58% described basic use through standalone tools or embedded features. Regular users generally reported productivity benefits, but 70% called them slight and 21% significant. Employers’ responses point to a focus on getting more output from current staff; these are self-reported expectations, not measured productivity or realized job changes.
64% of respondents expect existing employees to do more with AI, while 4% expect AI to reduce headcount.
Two-thirds of businesses reported having a dedicated AI budget.
Respondents ranked capital and technical assistance as the most helpful potential state support, followed by AI pilots and talent pipelines.
AI has reached most businesses in Maryland’s new survey, but large productivity gains remain less common. The Maryland State Innovation Team released its Maryland Business AI Benchmark Report on October 1, 2026, in Baltimore. Among regular AI users, 70% described the productivity impact as slight; 21% called it significant.
The release came at Gov. Wes Moore’s Maryland Innovation Summit, which brought together around 400 leaders from government, business, labor, philanthropy and academia. The benchmark gives that gathering a concrete set of employer responses about adoption, productivity and workforce expectations.
The team surveyed nearly 300 senior decision-makers at Maryland organizations in June and July 2026. These are respondents’ accounts of their businesses and expectations, not a direct measurement of output or a count of jobs already lost.
Some form of AI use was reported by 91% of respondents. Yet 58% fell into the basic-use category: standalone tools or features built into existing products, rather than deeper integration. The adoption figure therefore captures a wider range of activity than businesses embedding AI more deeply in their operations.
Among regular users, 92% reported a positive productivity impact. That result describes how widely benefits were reported; the slight-versus-significant responses describe their size. A positive answer should not be read as a claim of a major improvement.
64% plan to have existing employees do more with AI rather than hire additional staff.
4% expect AI to reduce their headcount.
Two-thirds of businesses have a dedicated AI budget, according to the benchmark. Their workforce answers make an important distinction: expecting few headcount reductions is not the same as expecting more hiring. The most common stated plan is to get more done with the employees already in place.
Capital and technical assistance ranked as the most helpful potential state interventions, followed by AI pilot programs and talent pipelines. In businesses’ own words, the most frequent requests were:
Maryland Chief Innovation Officer Francesca Ioffreda described the benchmark as a basis for shaping state products, programs and policies with ground-level data. The requests identify what respondents want the state to provide; they are preferences for support, not commitments to deliver those services.
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