Agentic AI tools — systems that carry out tasks rather than only answering queries — are becoming a larger part of business use in the European Union, according to a report from OpenAI Economic Research published October 14, 2026.
Agentic tools grow in enterprises and SMEs
The report states that, among ChatGPT Enterprise customers in the EU sample, Codex and ChatGPT Work together account for more than half of output tokens. OpenAI defines small or medium businesses in the analysis as those with 200 or fewer associated users and reports that weekly active users of Codex and ChatGPT Work in those firms increased more than eightfold since May 2026, with growth observed across all member states in the sample.
Adoption varies widely between countries and firms
Adoption is uneven. Within the ChatGPT Enterprise accounts analysed, the share of output tokens produced through Codex and ChatGPT Work ranged from 22% in Slovenia to 85% in Lithuania.
The report separates firms into ‘‘frontier’’ and typical groups, defining frontier firms as the top 10% by output tokens per active user. In September 2026, frontier firms in the EU generated more than four times as many output tokens per active user as typical EU firms. Even so, frontier firms outside the EU produced more than twice as many output tokens per active user as frontier EU firms. The analysis also notes that EU-based firms represented only 10% of the frontier firms globally, despite the EU’s larger share of registered companies worldwide.
OpenAI frames these figures as a gap in intensity of AI use. The report says closing that gap will require moving beyond experimentation, increasing worker skills and making advanced capabilities more accessible and affordable.
Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer, OpenAI, is quoted in the report: “Europe is now in a new era of AI, with tools that can carry out tasks for people. More than half of the AI use among our EU enterprise and business customers now involves these tools, and the number of small business users has grown 8x across the region. Yet there is still plenty of room for AI use to grow across the EU. Giving people the tools, skills and confidence to use AI well will help build stronger businesses and growing economies, with benefits felt across Europe.”
The findings and figures cited above appear in the OpenAI Economic Research report dated October 14, 2026.
Original source: OpenAI News