OpenAI leads surge in business AI adoption, Ramp AI Index reveals

Reuters The OpenAI logo, a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken January 27, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
OpenAI is at the forefront of enterprise AI adoption, topping the Ramp AI Index by acquiring customers faster than any other provider on American fintech company Ramp's platform. Chinese AI company Manus AI follows closely in second place.The Ramp AI Index, which tracks real corporate spending on AI tools and services from over 30,000 US businesses, highlights a significant uptick in enterprise AI usage.
The data is compiled monthly using actual transactions from Ramp's corporate card and bill payment platform, offering a tangible measurement of how businesses are embracing artificial intelligence.
While foundational model providers continue to dominate, the report shows a notable rise in the adoption of specialised AI tools tailored to specific enterprise needs.
Specialised AI: The next big game
One standout example is Turbopuffer, an internal data search engine that leverages vector search to handle billions of entries efficiently. Its speed and precision make it popular among technical teams seeking scalable AI infrastructure.
Other rapidly growing AI vendors include: Jasper, which provides AI-powered writing tools for marketers.
Deepgram, a speech recognition platform for voice transcription.
Snowflake, whose Cortex suite enables businesses to integrate large language models and semantic functions directly into SQL workflows, empowering data teams without requiring system overhauls.
Enterprise adoption accelerates
ET had earlier reported that larger companies—with annual revenues of at least $500 million—are adopting AI more quickly than smaller organisations. Ramp's latest data supports this trend and further reveals that smaller, specialised AI vendors are seeing impressive gains. Several new entrants climbed into the top ranks for AI-related spending in May, underscoring a shift beyond the dominance of big foundational model providers.By new customer count, OpenAI, Cursor, Canva, LinkedIn and GoDaddy lead the charts whereas Maxon Computer, JasperAI and Tango.ai are next in line after Manus AI in terms of largest percentage change in customer count.
A recent Naukri.com survey found that one in three tech professionals in India is currently undergoing formal AI training via their employers—highlighting the growing demand for AI-related skills. Ramp also noted that actual AI adoption may be higher than reported, as many businesses use free tools or rely on employees' personal accounts—factors not captured in transaction-based data.
Global AI market outlook The global enterprise AI market was valued at $23.95 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.6% from 2025 to 2030.
However, in India, AI adoption is still maturing. According to Krishna Vij from TeamLease Digital, a talent gap of nearly 50% persists. While India has around 4.2 lakh AI professionals, the estimated need is closer to six lakh.
Competition from China
Despite restrictions on AI chip exports from the US, China has become the second-largest producer of AI models across text, image, video, and audio domains. As of early 2024, 36% of the 1,328 large language models (LLMs) globally originated in China, second only to the US. In a further push, the Chinese government and private investors have launched a new AI fund worth 60 billion yuan (approximately $8.2 billion).Major developments include: Alibaba's Qwen Series, DeepSeek's R1, Tencent's Hunyuan Turbo S and Manus AI.
Manus AI, which has made notable strides toward AI autonomy, can execute complex multi-step workflows and access reliable data via APIs. It has achieved state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance across three difficulty levels.
While the US continues to lead AI model development—producing 40 significant models in 2024—China is rapidly closing the gap. The latest Artificial Intelligence Index Report signals a transformative shift in the global AI landscape, as China accelerates its capabilities and investments.

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