In-depth survey reveals how technology buyers use AI tools throughout their research and purchase process

TrustRadius, an HG Insights company and the most trusted B2B buyer intelligence platform, announced a new research report studying how workers are actually using AI and how software buyers are leveraging AI as part of their buying journey. The data provides key insights for B2B companies looking to better understand the tech landscape and match their go-to-market efforts to how these tools are being used in the market.

The report, From Buzzword to Backbone: How AI Is Redefining B2B Search and Buying, is a comprehensive survey of the TrustRadius buyer community that drills down into the data to explore impacts for specific use cases, subscription model tools, vendor tips, and overall trends affecting buyers and sellers.

The AI Age is here
Proving that it’s more than just a trendy buzzword, the data confirms that AI has indeed arrived and become entrenched in our everyday work lives. Of surveyed respondents who stated they use AI at work, 95% use it at least weekly, with 69% using it daily. Younger professionals are more likely to use AI at work, with 86% of Gen Z respondents (born between 1997 and 2005) reporting they use AI daily.

Job function also impacts daily usage, with technical roles like engineering and product more likely to use AI daily. In contrast, finance and accounting professionals are the least likely to use AI.

Digging into AI tools
With so many professionals using AI in their day-to-day work, it’s helpful to understand which AI tools are breaking through the noise. ChatGPT, at 79%, is by far the most commonly used tool, though several other large language models (LLMs) are routinely utilized as well. Gemini ranks third on this survey, at 46%. Enterprise users (those who work at organizations with at least 1,001 employees), in particular, are more likely to employ Copilot and Perplexity.

The average survey respondent uses 3 separate AI tools, with interesting demographic data trends present here as well. Baby boomers used an average of 2.3 tools, while Gen Z respondents averaged 3.6.

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Overall AI tool trends
Across the board, the TrustRadius consensus is that professionals are testing out varied AI tools to establish what works best for their particular use case. Testing typically doesn’t cost a lot of money because free versions of these tools are widely available.

These use cases extend beyond standalone AI tools. 75% of respondents reported they utilize tools that offer AI features, with only 9% of this group stating that they don’t use the AI features offered.

AI use cases
With so many AI tools now prevalent in the workplace, just how are professionals utilizing them? According to our survey, the most common categories of AI use at work include:

• Research: 46%
• Writing: 43%
• General productivity: 20%
• Coding: 20%
• Content creation: 19%
• Ideation: 17%
• Troubleshooting: 16%
• Data analysis: 15%
• Process automation: 14%
• Summaries: 11%

Company goals for AI
The TrustRadius buyer community was asked why their companies were adopting AI and what they were trying to achieve.

The most common goals were:

• Efficiency: 86%
• Innovation: 57%
• Cost and time savings: 49%

These companies are looking to accomplish their goals by adopting AI tools and cultivating their own. Among all respondents, 32% work at companies that are developing proprietary AI tools for internal use cases. This number is higher in the enterprise (54%), unsurprisingly, because these organizations presumably have more resources to allocate towards AI.

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AI policy at work
Even with businesses of all sizes turning to AI tools, there are often certain rules of engagement. 51% of professionals surveyed stated their employer has a policy that governed AI use in the workplace. This is even more prevalent in larger companies, with 72% of enterprise employees reporting their company adheres to an AI policy.

AI in the buying journey
As AI is being used for more daily tasks, this includes software buying. 45% of respondents and 51% of enterprise buyers have turned to AI during their software-buying processes. It’s crucial for tech companies to understand their AI visibility given how much ChatGPT and other tools have changed online search.

C-suite buyers (65%) and Gen Z (51%) leverage AI more often in their buying processes, which means that both early-stage researchers and the final decision-makers are using AI tools to evaluate products.

AI use cases for software buying
Buyers are still learning how to employ AI for software buying and are evaluating it for use cases from preliminary research to final decision-making. 94% of buyers who utilize AI say they find it helpful or very helpful.

Early research has become the most common use case, and this is where AI is supplanting traditional search. With buyers increasingly turning to AI tools to find out which products are out there, it is essential for vendors to show up in this preliminary research to stand a chance of making the short-list and, ultimately, closing the deal.

Future AI predictions
TrustRadius predicts that AI usage in work and software buying will continue to become the status quo. AI that automates workflows and simple tasks are key use cases, leading to the conclusion that AI tools and features that support these uses will keep growing. Conversely, it’s probable that a large number of tech companies will release AI features that simply fall short. Users can see right through AI features that don’t add value and were built just so the product can be called AI-enabled.

The current status quo, with brands supplying content to LLMs without getting the benefits of receiving traffic to their site, is unsustainable. There will need to be some form of course correction involving a value exchange between content producers and AI companies.

“While AI is seemingly everywhere these days, we wanted to go beyond the surface-level trends and take a deeper dive into the real-world data to uncover what’s truly driving the AI Age,” said Allyson Havener, Vice President of Corporate and Customer Marketing at TrustRadius (an HG Insights company). “Our research has revealed some fascinating insights, and we’re looking forward to opening up new conversations with B2B vendors eager to get a better grasp on, and gain more traction in, this evolving AI market.”