US businesses paying for AI (Ramp AI Index)
Share of Ramp's business customers with a paid subscription to, or token purchases from, an AI model, platform or tool in the month, from Ramp card and bill-pay data.
Reason through thisThe reading
Over half of tech-forward firms pay for AI, but the monthly gain has slowed to under half a point. Paid adoption is broad in this sample and flattening.
45 readings drawn from ramp.us_businesses.paid_ai_adoption_share.m, one of 2 series listed under How it is measured; 46 observations in the evidence.
Source: Ramp AI Index (Ramp Economics Lab). Ramp AI Index, Ramp Economics Lab.
The numbers
| as of | reading | value | record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-30 | us businesses | 55.9% | measured |
| 2026-08-31 | us businesses | 55.2% | measured |
| 2026-07-31 | us businesses | 54.8% | measured |
| 2026-06-30 | us businesses | 54.0% | measured |
| 2026-05-31 | us businesses | 53.2% | measured |
| 2026-04-30 | us businesses | 52.0% | measured |
| 2026-03-31 | us businesses | 50.1% | measured |
| 2026-02-28 | us businesses | 47.7% | measured |
| 2026-01-31 | us businesses | 45.5% | measured |
| 2025-12-31 | us businesses | 44.5% | measured |
| 2025-11-30 | us businesses | 44.4% | measured |
| 2025-10-31 | us businesses | 43.6% | measured |
| 2025-09-30 | us businesses | 43.8% | measured |
| 2025-08-31 | us businesses | 43.5% | measured |
| 2025-07-31 | us businesses | 42.5% | measured |
| 2025-06-30 | us businesses | 41.2% | measured |
| 2025-05-31 | us businesses | 40.3% | measured |
| 2025-04-30 | us businesses | 39.0% | measured |
| 2025-03-31 | us businesses | 37.5% | measured |
| 2025-02-28 | us businesses | 36.7% | measured |
| 2025-01-31 | us businesses | 35.6% | measured |
| 2024-12-31 | us businesses | 34.5% | measured |
| 2024-11-30 | us businesses | 34.2% | measured |
| 2024-10-31 | us businesses | 33.5% | measured |
| 2024-09-30 | us businesses | 32.9% | measured |
| 2024-08-31 | us businesses | 32.1% | measured |
| 2024-07-31 | us businesses | 31.8% | measured |
| 2024-06-30 | us businesses | 31.4% | measured |
| 2024-05-31 | us businesses | 31.2% | measured |
| 2024-04-30 | us businesses | 30.8% | measured |
| 2024-03-31 | us businesses | 31.2% | measured |
| 2024-02-29 | us businesses | 30.6% | measured |
| 2024-01-31 | us businesses | 30.4% | measured |
| 2023-12-31 | us businesses | 29.4% | measured |
| 2023-11-30 | us businesses | 28.2% | measured |
| 2023-10-31 | us businesses | 27.3% | measured |
| 2023-09-30 | us businesses | 26.5% | measured |
| 2023-08-31 | us businesses | 25.4% | measured |
| 2023-07-31 | us businesses | 24.5% | measured |
| 2023-06-30 | us businesses | 25.7% | measured |
| 2023-05-31 | us businesses | 26.1% | measured |
| 2023-04-30 | us businesses | 24.4% | measured |
| 2023-03-31 | us businesses | 20.9% | measured |
| 2023-02-28 | us businesses | 12.1% | measured |
| 2023-01-31 | us businesses | 7.5% | measured |
Why it matters
The only monthly spend-based adoption series. Paying is a stronger commitment than 'using', and the sample skews to tech-forward firms, so it runs ahead of the Census rate and shows the ceiling first.
What cuts against it
Sample is Ramp's customer base, not a representative panel; a paid subscription is not usage; the Census all-firm rate at the same date is 22%; Ramp's own August letter is titled 'Cracks in the AI thesis'.
How it is measured
- series
ramp.us_businesses.paid_ai_adoption_share.m - series
techcrunch.us_businesses.paid_ai_adoption_share.m - source Ramp AI Index (Ramp Economics Lab) · default tier 3 · Ramp Economics Lab; cited with attribution
- source TechCrunch · default tier 7 · TechCrunch; short quotation
- proxy behaviour, deployment · cadence monthly · valve product to adoption
Ramp's customers are younger and more tech-forward than the Census universe (56% here against 22% in BTOS at the same date), so the BTOS edges (a third, a half) do not transfer. Normal = under 45% of Ramp customers paying in year four; fast = 65% or more, i.e. most of even this sample paying. Between is emerging. The trend carries more information than the level: +0.4 points in August 2026 after a year of roughly a point a month.
Applied to ramp.us_businesses.paid_ai_adoption_share.m.
Latest readings
Why this status, and its history
Ramp AI Index, August 2026: 56.1% of Ramp business customers paid for AI (TechCrunch, 9 Sep 2026: 56%, +0.4 points month on month). Between the normal band (under 45%) and the fast band (65% or more) set for this tech-forward sample; the Census all-firm rate at the same date is 22%. Ramp's own August letter is titled 'Cracks in the AI thesis'. Initial seed.
- 2026-09-10unmeasured to emergingconf — → 60 · the evaluator (automatic)
Ramp AI Index, August 2026: 56.1% of Ramp business customers paid for AI (TechCrunch, 9 Sep 2026: 56%, +0.4 points month on month). Between the normal band (under 45%) and the fast band (65% or more) set for this tech-forward sample; the Census all-firm rate at the same date is 22%. Ramp's own August letter is titled 'Cracks in the AI thesis'. Initial seed.
source1
Why this confidence
Rests on 46 observations from Ramp AI Index (Ramp Economics Lab), TechCrunch; best evidence tier 3, grade B; current.
Confidence is independent of status: 90–95 multiple strong independent sources; 70–89 good evidence, some ambiguity; 50–69 mixed or hard to operationalise; 0–49 limited or vague evidence.
Predictions that lean on this
- Happening