TraceGains Releases 2026 AI Readiness & Governance Survey

WESTMINSTER, Colo. — TraceGains, a provider of compliance, quality and innovation solutions for the food and beverage (F&B) industry, released its 2026 AI Readiness & Governance Survey, which examines how F&B organizations are approaching AI adoption, leading to growing concerns around trust, security and governance.

The survey of 423 food quality, safety, R&D and governance professionals worldwide reveals a disconnect between the percentage of companies with formal AI initiatives in place (41%) and levels of informal AI adoption within the workforce, TraceGains said. While enterprises continue to move with caution toward formal AI adoption, prioritizing data security, accuracy and compliance for AI solutions, individual workers are moving ahead with publicly available tools, raising questions around governance, according to the company. 

"The highly regulated food and beverage industry is entering a pivotal moment with AI," said John Thorpe, senior director of product management, TraceGains. "Brands recognize the opportunity AI offers, but are asking smart questions about intellectual property and governance. At the same time, some workers want to move faster, with less concern for risk. The good news is that secure AI tools exist, but organizations who aren't leveraging enterprise AI need to look carefully at whether shadow AI usage could be taking its place and evaluate those risks."

The AI Perception Gap: Governed vs. Ungoverned Usage

TraceGains research shows a significant gap between formal AI adoption and broader workforce usage, suggesting organizations may be underestimating the extent to which employees are already leveraging AI tools, the company reported. When asked about their use of AI technologies within compliance and new product development (NPD) workflows, more than half (59%) reported their organizations do not have enterprise-level AI technologies in place today.

These findings contrast with workforce studies suggesting employee AI usage may be moving at a faster pace than enterprise adoption, TraceGains said. According to Gartner's 2025 Cybersecurity Innovations in AI Risk Management and Use Survey, over 57% of employees use personal GenAI accounts for work, and 33% admit to inputting sensitive work information into public or unapproved GenAI tools. In regulated and highly competitive industries like food and beverage, unsanctioned AI usage presents a range of risks, with implications ranging from data privacy to compliance.

AI Roadblocks in the Governed Food & Beverage Industry

While interest in AI escalates, F&B brands remain cautiously optimistic about deploying the technology in highly regulated environments, TraceGains said. When asked about the biggest obstacles preventing wider AI adoption:

• 30% cited concerns around AI accuracy and trustworthiness.
• 25% pointed to enterprise-grade security and data protection requirements.
• 24% identified regulatory and compliance safeguards as a key concern.
• Only 15% are hopeful about AI's potential value in improving decision-making through better insights.

The findings suggest organizations are not rejecting AI outright but instead are seeking governance frameworks, security controls and compliance safeguards that enable responsible adoption, the company said. Workforces, in contrast, are showing less caution, with higher rates of individual adoption for work-related tasks, and a willingness to move ahead of corporate IT teams. This growing governance gap in AI usage may create additional urgency for organizations to seek out secure, compliant frameworks for AI usage, TraceGains reported. 

Disconnected Data: The Number One Factor Slowing Industry Down

Beyond governance concerns, TraceGains research found that many food and beverage organizations still describe an industry struggling with fragmented systems and disconnected information, impacting the industry's ability to move quickly and capitalize on emerging technologies, the company said. 

• 40% identified disconnected systems and data as the number one operational barrier preventing food and beverage teams from moving faster.
• Just 9% described their organizations as fully connected across teams and functions.
• At the same time, 34% believe end-to-end traceability will define the next era of F&B operations.
• 32% expect real-time connected data to become the industry's next major operational priority.

"AI is only as effective as the data behind it," said Thorpe. "Organizations cannot expect to leverage the full potential of intelligent automation tools when systems remain disconnected, and valuable information remains isolated in silos. Connected, accessible and well-governed data will be the foundation for successful AI adoption across the industry."

To learn more about how F&B organizations can prepare for AI-driven operations, visit: https://tracegains.com/resource/state-of-digital-transformation-food-beverage-2026/.

Survey Methodology
TraceGains surveyed 423 F&B professionals worldwide on May 27, including leaders across quality, food safety, regulatory, research and development, supply chain, executive leadership and business systems.