[Automotive Industry Survey (1)] Over 70% of Planning & Development Roles Use AI; Internal Gap Highlighted as Nearly 20% of General Employees Do Not

Findy Inc. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yuichiro Yamada; hereinafter "our company"), a provider of an engineering platform, has conducted a survey regarding the challenges of new business development and product planning, as well as the actual state of AI utilization in the automotive industry, and we are announcing the results. Please note that the press release for this survey will be announced in a three-part series, and this is the first installment.

◆ Survey Results Summary

1. Individual AI utilization rate exceeds 70%. Meanwhile, a "utilization gap" between job titles becomes clear.

The AI utilization among planning and development roles in the automotive industry exceeds 70%, combining those who use it across all tasks and those who use it only for specific tasks or situations. On the other hand, slightly less than 20% of general employee-class respondents answered "No utilization," revealing a significant difference in utilization frequency depending on the job title.

2. The AI utilization phase is shifting from "efficiency of routine tasks" to "non-routine, more advanced AI utilization."

Centered around the management layer, there are beginning to be signs of advanced AI utilization in non-routine tasks such as brainstorming, customer voice analysis, and hypothesis building, moving beyond just the efficiency of routine tasks like meeting minute summarization and information gathering.

3. "Making data AI-friendly" becomes a bottleneck when deepening AI utilization.

As barriers to further deepening AI utilization, along with "Concerns about output accuracy" (33.2%) and "Concerns about confidentiality and security" (31.0%), "Lack of data preparation for AI to read" (26.5%) ranked highly. Also, for the demographic that is not fully utilizing AI, how to provide a tangible sense of the effects of AI utilization becomes important.

◆ Survey Overview

Survey Method: Internet survey

Survey Implementation Period: Friday, March 6, 2026 – Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Target Condition: Distributed to men and women aged 20-69 nationwide. Conducted by extracting the following individuals:

Industry: Those working at automobile (completed vehicle) manufacturers, specialized R&D companies and advanced development centers belonging to those groups, and auto parts/component manufacturers.

Job Description: Those involved as a primary person in charge or partially involved in new business development, product/service planning and development, R&D planning, IT/DX/AI promotion, product management, or UX research/design.

Sample Size: 226 samples

Survey Entity: Findy Inc.

Survey Organization: INTAGE Inc.

(*) Please note that this survey is not a survey of users of Findy Inc.'s platform.

◆ Over 60% of workplaces have introduced and utilize AI in operations

Currently, the introduction and use of AI in business are advancing in many areas. This time, we investigated the actual state of AI introduction and utilization among business persons in the new business development and product planning areas in the automotive-related industry.

First, regarding the introduction and utilization of AI at workplaces, 22.1% of all respondents said it is "fully introduced and utilized in business," and 40.7% said it is "introduced experimentally in some operations," showing that a combined 62.8% have AI introduced and utilized in their operations in some form. On the other hand, "No plan to introduce" is at 8.0%, indicating that the introduction and utilization of AI is not necessarily progressing in all workplaces.

Analyzing by industry type, automobile completed vehicle manufacturers (OEM) were at 63.0%, group R&D companies of automobile completed vehicle manufacturers at 62.2%, and primary suppliers (Tier 1) that deliver directly to completed vehicle manufacturers at 62.9%, showing almost the same level regardless of the industry. It was confirmed that the introduction and utilization of AI are progressing to a certain degree regardless of the industry.

(Figure 1) Generative AI introduction status at workplaces (overall/by industry)

◆ Personal AI utilization rate exceeds 70%. Large difference in AI utilization by job title

Next, when asked about the utilization status of AI in their own operations, 27.9% of all respondents answered "Utilized routinely in all operations," and 45.6% answered "Utilized in specific tasks/situations," bringing the total percentage of those currently utilizing AI in operations to 73.5%. This is a slightly higher level compared to the figures in the previous question "AI introduction and utilization status at workplaces." From this, it can be inferred that individuals are more proactive in introducing and utilizing AI than organizations. Furthermore, it was found that there is a significant difference in AI utilization status by demographic attribute.

Looking by occupation, the percentage answering "Utilized routinely in all operations" in "New Business/R&D Planning" was more than 18 points higher compared to "Product Planning/Merchandise Planning."

(Figure 2) AI utilization status in personal operations (all respondents/by occupation)

Looking by job title, for the general manager class and section manager/manager class, the combined percentage of "Utilized routinely in all operations" and "Utilized in specific tasks/situations" reached a high level of over 80%. On the other hand, for chief clerks/senior staff/leaders...