Stratos Edge

Research

Stratos Edge Research is a primary-sourced series on AI adoption in companies. Every number in an issue traces to a public source, and every issue ships with its data as a file anyone can check.

The series

3

  • Issue 0 ·

    What a Third of Employees Did at Work Last Week

    A third of the U.S. workforce used generative AI at work last week. Three in four say their organization has not communicated a plan.

    Read the issue Download the data appendix (CSV)Download the PDF

  • Issue 1 ·

    What Happened to the Hours AI Gave Back

    71% of AI-using firms say AI raised productivity; the same firms report no change in the workers they need. The return shows up only where a baseline was set before go-live and the freed hours were reallocated on purpose.

    Read the issue Download the data appendix (CSV)Download the PDF

  • Issue 2 ·

    The AI Invoice Means It's Working. Is It Buying Anything?

    U.S. companies plan to spend 52% more on AI per employee in 2026, and less than $1 in $5 of large-company AI usage spending can be tied to a measured result. The invoice grows exactly when AI starts working; the companies that kept their return set a target outcome and a cost per result, and controlled the cost per result rather than who could use the tool.

    Read the issue Download the data appendix (CSV)Download the PDF

How the series is made

  1. Every figure comes from a named public source: a central bank survey, a government statistical release, a peer-reviewed study or a large industry survey with a stated sample. Vendor surveys are labelled as such.
  2. Sources are tiered. Tier 1 is government, central bank and peer-reviewed; Tier 2 is a large named industry survey; Tier 3 is a vendor or advocacy figure, used only with the caveat stated.
  3. Each issue is edited by Micah Laughlin, Chief Strategy Officer, and carries its publication date and last revision. Corrections are listed on the issue itself.
  4. The data appendix lists every number in the issue with its metric, value, population, sample size, source, source URL, date, tier and, where one exists, its Evidence Library ID.

How to cite

Cite the issue, not this page. Suggested form:

Stratos Edge Research (2026). Issue 0: What a Third of Employees Did at Work Last Week. stratosedge.ai/insights/ai-at-work
Stratos Edge Research (2026). Issue 1: What Happened to the Hours AI Gave Back. stratosedge.ai/insights/hours-ai-gave-back
Stratos Edge Research (2026). Issue 2: The AI Invoice Means It's Working. Is It Buying Anything? stratosedge.ai/insights/the-ai-invoice-means-its-working

Questions about the data

Journalists and analysts may reuse any figure with the citation above. For the underlying data or a briefing, start a conversation. Start a conversation.