iManage has released the Knowledge Work 2026 Benchmark Report, providing insights into how firms with established knowledge systems perform in AI adoption, client trust, and overall business outcomes.
The research surveyed 3,185 decision-makers across 26 countries and builds on iManage’s Knowledge Work Maturity Model (KWMM). It shows that organisations with mature knowledge infrastructures generally report stronger business performance, highlighting a connection between effective knowledge governance and AI utilisation.
While AI adoption is widespread in professional services, only organisations with solid knowledge foundations are consistently translating experimentation into operational use. Although 85% of firms are using or testing AI, just 17% have integrated it into daily operations, indicating a gap between AI ambition and practical implementation.
Key findings include:
- AI maturity and business performance: Firms with mature knowledge environments report higher year-on-year revenue growth and are more likely to indicate profitability improvements compared to less mature peers.
- Adoption vs. integration: Although 85% of organisations engage with AI, only 17% report operational implementation, showing a lag between experimentation and routine use.
- Customer influence: 57% of respondents cite customer expectations as influencing AI adoption, rising to 74% among knowledge-mature organisations, which are also more likely to deploy AI in client-facing workflows.
- Governance challenges: About one-third of organisations report incidents related to unregulated AI, and nearly 30% have delayed AI adoption due to security concerns.
- AI enhancing roles: 57% of respondents say AI primarily enhances existing job functions, with knowledge-mature organisations more likely to report productivity gains from AI-enabled workflows.
- Search friction: Despite 86% expressing confidence in their ability to locate and reuse knowledge, professionals still spend an average of 37 minutes per day searching for information.
Reena SenGupta, Executive Director at RSGi, notes, “investment in knowledge systems, architecture and AI is non-negotiable. Law firm strategy cannot be a wait and see, or be a second follower."
Strategic considerations for 2026
The report indicates that organisation-wide approaches to knowledge management and governance are important for moving from AI trials to more consistent deployment. While 72% of organisations plan to invest in new knowledge or document management platforms within the next two years, the effectiveness of such investments depends on having trusted, governed foundations that support consistent AI usage.
The Knowledge Work 2026 Benchmark Report provides a global overview of AI adoption in professional services and serves as a reference for assessing whether knowledge foundations will support scalable AI use or increase risk in the near future.
