No official body publishes a "top 10" of AI technologies, but Statistics Canada counts how many AI-using businesses report each of 18 named applications. In the spring 2026 survey wave (fieldwork ending May 6), data analytics was the most common, reported by 36.6 percent of AI-using businesses, with text analytics just behind at 34.5 percent and virtual agents or chatbots third at 28.2 percent. The categories overlap and are self-reported, so the percentages describe what businesses chose to tick and do not form a clean ranking.
Key takeaways
- Statistics Canada's June 11, 2026 release lists 18 AI applications; data analytics (36.6 percent) led among AI-using businesses, ahead of text analytics (34.5 percent) and chatbot-type tools (28.2 percent).
- In one year, AI-based decision-making systems climbed from 5.7 to 13.7 percent, and deep learning went from 6.6 to 13.1 percent.
- The 18 shares add up to 286.5 percent, so the average AI-using business reported about three applications.
- Categories nest inside one another: a large language model is a kind of natural language processing, built with deep learning and neural networks.
- U.S. Census Bureau data cited by the Federal Reserve show about 18 percent of firms using AI at the end of 2025, but that note reports no split by technology.
Why a list of ten technologies cannot be verified
Popular lists of leading AI technologies rest on the compiler's judgment. They rarely say what was counted, who was asked, or in which year. A measured alternative is a government survey that gives respondents a fixed menu of technologies and asks which ones the business used. The menu has flaws, but it states its question, its period, and its population, so the results can be compared from year to year.
What Statistics Canada counted
The Statistics Canada analysis released June 11, 2026 reports that 19.2 percent of all businesses used AI to produce goods or deliver services in the preceding 12 months, and another 40.0 percent said AI was not relevant to their business. The shares below apply only to the businesses that did use AI. The release names the applications but does not define them, so respondents applied their own understanding of each term.
The 18 applications, year over year
| Application | Q2 2026 (percent) | Q2 2025 (percent) |
|---|---|---|
| Data analytics using AI | 36.6 | 26.4 |
| Text analytics using AI | 34.5 | 35.7 |
| Virtual agents or chat bots | 28.2 | 24.8 |
| Natural language processing | 27.0 | 23.1 |
| Large language models | 24.8 | 19.1 |
| Speech or voice recognition using AI | 20.6 | 20.0 |
| Marketing automation using AI | 19.8 | 23.1 |
| Machine learning | 18.2 | 18.6 |
| Recommendation systems using AI | 17.9 | 14.0 |
| Image or pattern recognition | 14.0 | 11.4 |
| Decision making systems based on AI | 13.7 | 5.7 |
| Deep learning | 13.1 | 6.6 |
| Robotics process automation | 5.0 | 3.8 |
| Machine or computer vision | 4.6 | 3.1 |
| Augmented reality | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| Neural networks | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Biometrics | 1.8 | 3.2 |
| Other type | 1.4 | 6.1 |
How to read the table
Shares are percentages of AI-using businesses, so a technology at 36.6 percent was named by about one in three AI users, not one in three businesses. Because the 2026 column sums to 286.5 percent, a typical AI-using business reported about 2.9 applications. That is a derived figure, and it assumes each respondent could tick several boxes, which the totals imply.
The ranking mixes levels of description. Data analytics and marketing automation name a job. Machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks name methods, and a business running a chatbot built on a large language model could reasonably tick virtual agents, natural language processing, large language models, deep learning, and neural networks together. Neural networks at 2.3 percent next to deep learning at 13.1 percent is a sign of uneven labeling, not of low use of neural networks. Small year-to-year changes deserve caution, since survey percentages carry sampling error.
What moved the most
The largest gains were in decision-making systems based on AI (8.0 percentage points) and data analytics (10.2 points), with deep learning (6.5 points) and large language models (5.7 points) close behind. Among the named applications, marketing automation fell 3.3 points and biometrics 1.4 points. The release does not explain these shifts. One plausible driver is that more businesses tick several overlapping boxes as chatbot tools spread, which is an inference and not a finding.
The U.S. measure is built differently
A Federal Reserve Board note dated April 3, 2026 reports that about 18 percent of U.S. firms had adopted AI at the end of 2025 in the Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey. In November 2025 the Census Bureau broadened its question from using AI "in producing goods or services" to using it "in any of its business functions," and reported adoption rose after the change. The note treats the old and new series as not directly comparable and reports no split by type of technology, so Canadian and U.S. percentages should not be set side by side.
Checklist for any list of AI technologies
- Does it say who was asked, how many, and in which period?
- Are the categories separate, or does one contain another?
- Is the share out of all businesses or only out of AI users?
- Were the terms defined for respondents?
- Was the question reworded between years?
FAQ
What is the most used AI technology in business?
In Statistics Canada's April to May 2026 survey, data analytics using AI led at 36.6 percent of AI-using businesses, narrowly ahead of text analytics at 34.5 percent. The result describes Canadian businesses in that period.
Is a large language model a different technology from machine learning?
It is a subset. A large language model is a machine learning model trained on large amounts of text, so a business using one could truthfully tick several boxes, which is why the survey shares overlap.
Do these numbers cover U.S. companies?
No. They come from a Canadian survey. The Census Bureau runs a separate survey with a different question, and the Federal Reserve note cited here gives no technology split.
Why do some technologies show small shares?
Some are narrow, such as machine or computer vision at 4.6 percent. Others may be reported under a broader heading, such as image or pattern recognition at 14.0 percent.
Related reading
- Applications of AI inside organizations
- Where AI provides measurable benefits
- AI use and programs in New York
- What the Deloitte AI Institute publishes
More in AI Basics.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Analysis in Brief, Artificial intelligence use by Canadian businesses, Statistics Canada, product 11-621-M, released June 11, 2026
- Monitoring AI adoption in the U.S. economy, FEDS Notes, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, April 3, 2026