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Keypoint Intelligence recently completed a dual-region study exploring how organizations in the United States and Western Europe are approaching digital transformation (DX) in their document workflows. We surveyed nearly 300 IT decision-makers in the US and 230 in Western Europe across industries like financial services, healthcare, education, manufacturing, and legal. All respondents had direct responsibility for document workflows—offering a grounded view of adoption levels, pain points, and investment priorities.
Both regions show growing momentum around workflow automation and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, but the data reveals a fragmented landscape that is shaped by company size, industry needs, and digital maturity.
The study examined current automation usage, remaining paper-heavy departments, the influence of digital maturity on strategy, AI pilot trends, departmental differences, and the challenges organizations face—such as integration complexity, skills gaps, and compliance demands. We also explored the role of IT versus business units in leading automation efforts.
Automation Is Well-Established, but Far from Complete
Document management systems (DMS) and business process automation (BPA) tools are widely adopted in both regions. In the US, over 80% reported using DMS platforms and nearly as many have BPA tools in place. Europe shows similar patterns, although robotic process automation (RPA) is less common as it is present in about one-quarter of organizations. Notably, 40%-48% of respondents across both regions said they have multiple automation initiatives underway. This suggests a maturing environment where foundational tools are in place, but broader, enterprise-wide adoption is still developing.
Efficiency Is the Primary Driver
Across all industries and regions, process efficiency ranked as the top reason for adopting automation, followed by improvements in data accuracy and operational cost reduction. Larger US firms emphasized cost savings, while smaller and mid-sized companies focused more on reducing manual workloads and saving time—highlighting different goals based on scale and resource availability.
Barriers Are Structural, Not Conceptual
The perceived value of automation and AI is strong, but adoption is still hindered by internal barriers. In Europe, the top concerns included security and compliance. In the US, integration with legacy systems ranked the highest. Smaller organizations in both regions face additional challenges around internal expertise and knowing where to begin. These aren’t new issues, but they continue to shape rollout timelines and scope.
AI Is Being Deployed…but Carefully
AI is already in use across key areas, including intelligent classification, summarization, and data extraction. US organizations leaned toward classification tools, while European respondents prioritized summarization—reflecting workflow preferences and local document-handling practices. The research also explored early-stage adoption of AI for routing, triage, and autonomous systems (agentic AI), as well as the metrics used to evaluate performance—like time savings, error reduction, and efficiency.
Across both regions, over 40% of companies are expanding their AI efforts, while another 25% are piloting or exploring use cases. AI is no longer theoretical; it’s entering broader rollout phases, especially among digitally mature firms.
Industry-Wide Trends and Areas of Focus
The research analyzed five core verticals—healthcare, financial services, education, manufacturing, and legal—to understand how automation and AI are shaping document workflows at the industry level. We explored which workflows are automated, where paper still dominates, and how hybrid work environments continue to influence workflow design. We also looked at the role of company size in shaping departmental progress and how investment priorities align with levels of digital maturity.
Keypoint Intelligence Opinion
One of the key takeaways is that automation and AI in document workflows are established, but they’re not evenly distributed. Larger, well-resourced companies are progressing faster. Smaller firms and compliance-heavy industries are moving more cautiously—but they are moving. Nearly half of the organizations surveyed plan to increase investment in AI over the next 12 months. While most expect moderate growth (about one-quarter) are planning more significant shifts.
For vendors and providers, this creates an opportunity and a challenge: Success will depend on aligning solutions to organizational readiness, integration needs, and industry-specific use cases.
This blog highlights insights from our 2025 research on automation and AI in the US and Western Europe. Over the coming weeks, we’ll release deeper cuts exploring vertical-specific results, technology adoption benchmarks, and practical implications for providers as well as enterprise buyers.
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