Foreword

Alyson Shontell

Editor-in-Chief

For today’s business leaders, there’s nothing more exhilarating—and daunting—than the potential of AI.

The economic gains it promises to unlock are almost unfathomable, so there’s no more urgent task than for leaders to roll up their sleeves and get started.

But many are finding it daunting to navigate the onslaught of new and constantly changing tools and large language models (LLMs). Early experiments for many companies have proved to be costly investments with lackluster gains.

A recent IBM (No. 68) survey of 2,000 global CEOs found that while leaders are still confident that AI is pivotal to their future, only 25% of their current AI initiatives delivered the returns on investment they had hoped for.

Still, across all sectors, there are companies that are beginning to figure it out. Fortune’s newsroom set out to gather examples of AI implementations that are showing promising upside, in a new special digital issue that’s part of the series we’re calling Fortune AIQ, made possible by our partner, ServiceNow (No. 386).

On Wall Street, for example, JPMorgan Chase (No. 11) says its internal AI use cases have unlocked an estimated $2 billion in value. The 240-year-old bank BNY (No. 113) has embraced AI as well, launching an internal tool called Eliza to help its employees build their own AI agents, and it is partnering with OpenAI to collaborate on financial services use cases.

Other Fortune 500 companies are creating AI avatars to aid corporate learning initiatives and even to mimic executive communications so they can produce them more frequently. Mondelez International (No. 125) said it has made 30,000 such videos this year, with the help of an AI avatar startup that’s backed by Mark Cuban.

In the $104 billion waste-management industry, AI can even help us recycle more efficiently. AMP, which makes an AI-driven system that sorts trash from recycling (something humans are notoriously terrible at), is helping companies reduce the costs of that grunt work by up to 50%—making recycling potentially profitable at last.

The key takeaway: Figuring out AI might be daunting, but it’s a business imperative.

As IBM vice chairman Gary Cohn said of his AI ROI survey, “the ultimate pay-off will only come to CEOs with the courage to embrace risk as opportunity.”

Deals & Developments

Despite reports that Shell (No. 13 on the Global 500) was in early talks to buy struggling rival BP (No. 25 on the Global 500), Shell has denied these rumors. The deal would be the largest energy deal of the century, Fortune Energy Editor Jordan Blum wrote, but for now, it appears it is not moving forward and that BP has no other clear suitors. Shell reinforced its claim by citing a U.K. law that prohibits Shell from bidding on BP for the next six months.
Omnicom Group (No. 276) has been cleared by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to acquire Interpublic Group (No. 397) after the companies committed they will not collude on politically motivated ad boycotts, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal, valued at $13 billion, will create the world’s largest advertising company, combining Omnicom’s agencies, including BBDO and TBWA, and IPG’s (e.g. McCann Worldgroup) in the same portfolio.
SpartanNash (No. 428) is set to be acquired by C&S Wholesale Grocers for $1.77 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. Both companies operate grocery stores and distribute products to retailers—SpartanNash store brands include Family Fare and D&W Fresh Market, while C&S has Piggly Wiggly and Grand Union stores in its portfolio.
The FTC also has cleared Mars’ $35.9 billion acquisition of Kellanova (No. 332). The deal has now received all but one of the regulatory approvals needed, with only the European Commission’s antitrust review to go. Brands in Mars’ portfolio include M&Ms, Skittles, and pet food such as Temptations cat treats. Kellanova is a relatively new company, established in 2023 after Kellogg split into two companies. Its brands include Cheez-its, Eggo, Pringles, and other snacks.

Overheard

“When I became CEO, I realized people didn’t even know we were a financial services company. Some thought we were a charity.”

—Terry Rasmussen, CEO of Thrivent Financial (No. 388), on misconceptions of the Fortune 500 company.

On earnings calls:

Walgreens Boots Alliance (No. 26) third-quarter sales increased by 7.2% year-over-year, reaching $39 billion. “Third-quarter results reflect continued improvement in our U.S. Healthcare segment and benefits from our cost savings initiatives, while we continued to see weakness in our U.S. front-end sales,” CEO Tim Wentworth said in a statement. Earlier this year, the company agreed to be acquired by Sycamore Partners for approximately $23.7 billion, at which point it will transition to being a private company. The company no longer hosts earnings calls.
FedEx (No. 49) reported $22.22 billion in revenue for Q4 2025, compared with the $21.79 that Wall Street expected. That’s despite facing challenges from tariff uncertainty—which led the company to issue guidance only for Q1 of fiscal 2026—and the upcoming expiration of its role as the USPS’s air cargo partner in September. CEO Raj Subramaniam announced that the company had successfully completed a $4 billion cost-cutting goal and hopes to cut another $1 billion in costs in the next fiscal year.
TD Synnex (No. 73) beat Wall Street estimates with $14.9 billion in revenue for Q2, marking a 7.2% year-over-year increase. CEO Patrick Zammit emphasized the IT company’s continued strength in the “IT distribution and hyperscaler markets.”
Nike (No. 90) sales dropped 12% (to $11.1 billion) and net income fell 86% (to $0.2 billion) in Q4, but CEO Elliott Hill spoke with optimism about future performance: “The results we’re reporting today in Q4 and in FY25 are not up to the Nike standard, but … the work we’re doing to reposition the business through our ‘Win Now’ actions is having an impact,” Hill said of the company’s ongoing turnaround plan.
Micron Technology (No. 170) Q3 sales totaled $9.3 billion, a 37% increase from $6.81 billion a year ago. The semiconductor company is benefiting from the AI boom. “DRAM revenue reached a new record, driven by a nearly 50% sequential growth in HBM revenue,” CEO Sanjay Mehrotra noted.
General Mills (No. 216) reported $4.56 billion in Q4 sales, a 3% decline from the previous year, which CEO Jeff Harmening attributed in part to “weaker consumer sentiment.” The company also lowered its profit expectations for fiscal 2026, and Harmening noted that the company’s “number one goal in fiscal 2026 is to restore volume-driven organic sales