--- title: The State of Global Enterprise Growth in 2026 description: Explore enterprise benchmarks on AI translation and global growth. Learn what high AI ROI teams do differently to scale content, stay compliant, & move faster. canonical: https://www.smartcat.com/global-growth-report-2026/ language: en updated: 2026-02-20 --- # The State of Global Enterprise Growth in 2026 ## The State of Global Enterprise Growth in 2026 Growth looks different now. Expanding into new regions still matters, but sustaining impact in existing markets has become more complex as channels multiply and compliance expectations evolve. Find out how high performing marketing and learning and development teams use AI to move faster, stay compliant, and strengthen performance across every market they serve. Download the Report Download Full Report ## Key Report Findings: Preview Global growth is no longer defined by entering more markets or simply adding more languages. 200 global enterprise leaders shared how AI is helping them launch products faster, support more channels, and deliver relevant and compliant content that performs inside the markets they already serve. ### 7x High AI performers are seven times more likely to use AI to significantly accelerate localization workflows. ### 52% Of enterprises added new languages in 2025, signaling broader globalization but also increasing operational complexity. ### +70% Of L&D and Marketing teams report at least 25% year-over-year growth in workload. Across teams, content demands are rising sharply. ### 64% Of enterprises automate specific tasks. ### 12% Operate unified or fully orchestrated stacks. ### 80% Of enterprises report faster content creation with AI. ### 68% Improved research and summarization— yet end-to-end workflows often remain human-driven. ## What’s Standing in the Way of Scalable Global Growth? Enterprise teams are aligned on the goal of global growth, but execution has become more complex. ### Remaining relevant and compliant in existing regions requires more effort. Teams are managing more languages, channels, formats, and compliance requirements simultaneously, often within the same markets. ### AI is widely adopted, but results diverge. Many enterprises use AI to move faster on individual steps, yet struggle to translate that speed into consistently faster execution and launch cycles. ### Operational maturity is the limiter. Fragmented stacks, limited orchestration, and governance review pace determine whether AI translation actually improves speed and impact at scale. ## What You’ll Get From This Report ### High AI ROI ### Explore four traits associated with teams seeing the highest AI productivity gains. ### Benchmark ### Benchmark where you stand against high AI performers and understand the operational differences behind stronger outcomes. ### Localize at scale ### See what enterprises are doing to localize culturally complex and compliant content at scale. ### Fast global content ### Identify practical priorities for scaling global content —across markets and channels—without adding headcount or operational risk. Who This Report Is For This report is designed for enterprise leaders responsible for global campaigns, learning, and enablement. ## How Industry Complexity Is Reshaping Global Growth ### Life Sciences Life sciences teams are under pressure to launch products, education, and training faster across markets where accuracy, compliance, and audit readiness are non-negotiable. Pharma translation increasingly supports continuous updates, evolving regulations, and culturally sensitive content—not one-time localization projects. The most productive, AI-savvy life sciences teams embed governance directly into AI translation workflows, enabling faster, compliant localization without introducing review bottlenecks that slow launches or increase risk. ### Manufacturing Manufacturers are translating technical documentation, safety materials, and workforce enablement content across regions with overlapping update cycles and growing channel complexity. Manufacturing translation workflows now need to support parallel execution to keep global operations aligned and responsive. High AI ROI manufacturing teams move faster in the market by going beyond task-level automation combining content and course creation, localization and distribution workflows. ### CPG + Retail Retail translation services must keep pace with rapid content cycles across ecommerce, marketing, and in-store enablement. Yet brand consistency and local relevance cannot be sacrificed. Retail document translations increasingly support not just new market entry, but stronger engagement and performance within existing regions. High-performing teams use AI translation to sustain variants, seasonal updates, and omnichannel content and training at speed, without creating governance gaps or operational drag. Download the Full Report Benchmark your AI translation maturity, see how high AI ROI teams accelerate localization workflows, and identify what to prioritize to improve speed, compliance, and impact across global markets. - Download the Full Report - [Book a Demo](https://www.smartcat.com/book-a-demo/?l-global-growth-report-2026)