KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, found 86% of family businesses in its latest U.S. survey are piloting AI or have adopted it at scale, while only 40% have a formal AI governance framework in place, according to its “KPMG 2026 US Family Business Report”.
Growth ambitions outpace capabilities
The gap sits alongside a wider capability problem. Some 51% of respondents named AI strategy and deployment as their largest organizational skills gap, while 39% cited attracting high-quality external talent as their top workforce challenge. At the same time, 93% said they have a clear growth strategy for the next five to 10 years.
KPMG calls the disconnect an “Architecture Gap”: growth ambition moving faster than the governance, talent and technology capabilities needed to support it. The firm connects that gap to a broader change in how family enterprises expect to be run over the next decade.
Moving from family-run to family-governed
Only 36% expect family members to hold most senior leadership roles over the next decade. Among respondents with a designated succession path, 91% expressed confidence in next-generation readiness.
“We are seeing a strategic shift from ‘family run’ to ‘family governed,’” Tracey Spivey, KPMG’s national practice leader for family enterprise tax, said in the firm’s release. KPMG links that transition to the governance, talent and technology capabilities family enterprises will need as more day-to-day management moves outside the family.
Governance hurdles in external recruitment
The firm also says a lack of formal governance can make it harder to attract outside executives and specialized AI talent. KPMG does not show that the businesses without formal AI governance were the same ones reporting talent difficulties, so the recruitment connection is the firm’s interpretation of the findings rather than a measured relationship.
Preparing the next generation of owners
Nearly three-quarters said they are already putting younger generations through on-the-job training or plan to do so. That finding fits the same ownership transition: family members may remain influential as owners and board members even as professional managers take more senior operating roles.
About the survey methodology
The research is based on 109 U.S. responses to KPMG’s broader Global Family Business Survey 2026. Meridian West, an independent research firm, conducted the research in the first quarter of 2026.
The sample provides a directional view of U.S. family enterprises rather than a population-wide measure. Within the respondent group, the survey separately shows widespread AI activity, less common formal AI governance and expectations of a less family-run operating model.