The latest State of Inventory Management 2026 report from inFlow Inventory has reported significant AI interest among operations professionals, with 81% wanting to use the technology. However, adoption in daily work is only at 11%.
“The interest is real, but it is waiting for the right capability to catch up,” said Jared Plumb, lead content creator at inFlow and co-host of the Secret Life of Inventory podcast. “Operators aren’t asking for general intelligence. They’re asking for a tool that tells them what to buy and when, and most systems they use today still can’t do that.”
Significant interest, minimal adoption
Based on a survey of 400 operations professionals across 33 industries, the report has found that 85% still use spreadsheets as a primary inventory tool. The majority (74%) rely solely on them or consider spreadsheets their main system, without any dedicated software. Among companies with 500 or more employees, 53% still operate primarily on spreadsheets.
The majority (92%) are satisfied with their current inventory approach, and almost half (49.5%) say that inventory accuracy is their top area for improvement.
However, 62% worry about costs while 21.5% are unsure about return on investment.
The report concludes that AI adoption depends less on proving that a tool works and more on lowering the barriers of cost, implementation, and integration. It encourages operators to move in incremental steps toward dedicated tools that could address the accuracy and stockout problems they cite most.
