Artificial intelligence utilization among individuals and enterprises across Turkiye doubled in 2026 as digital tools expanded across personal routines and corporate operations, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported on October 2. The figures point to a rapid acceleration in AI adoption across the country over just a single year, affecting both how ordinary citizens use technology in their daily lives and how businesses integrate AI into their operations.
Generative AI usage among individuals surged to 37.6 percent from 19.2 percent in 2025, nearly doubling within the span of a year. Women led adoption at 38.1 percent compared to 37.2 percent for men, a narrow but notable gap given that technology adoption figures in many countries have historically skewed toward men. Young people recorded the highest engagement, with the 16-24 age group reaching 64.9 percent and the 25-34 demographic at 55.7 percent, reflecting the stronger familiarity younger users typically have with new digital tools compared to older age groups. University graduates led adoption across educational levels at 62.7 percent, while primary school graduates trailed significantly at 8.5 percent, underscoring a clear link between formal education and AI tool usage. Individuals deployed these tools largely for private tasks at 86.4 percent, with professional use trailing at 37.3 percent, suggesting most people in Turkiye are currently using generative AI more for personal purposes than work related tasks.
Enterprise integration of AI reached 14 percent, nearly doubling from 7.5 percent in 2025 and marking a substantial increase from just 2.7 percent in 2021. Firms with 250 or more employees led adoption at 37.1 percent, compared to 12.8 percent for small businesses, a gap that likely reflects the greater resources larger companies have available to invest in new technology and the staff needed to implement it effectively. Sectorally, telecommunications and IT companies dominated AI adoption at 63.7 percent, unsurprising given these industries’ closer proximity to emerging technology. Businesses utilized AI primarily for marketing and sales at 51 percent, alongside research and innovation at 46.3 percent, pointing to customer facing and product development functions as the leading use cases for corporate AI adoption.
Open-source software accounted for 67.8 percent of corporate AI acquisitions, suggesting many Turkish businesses are opting for freely available or customizable AI tools rather than proprietary commercial solutions. Some 16.6 percent of AI-integrated firms reported processing personal customer data through these systems, raising questions around data privacy that regulators in many countries continue to grapple with. Among companies avoiding AI adoption altogether, 72.3 percent cited a lack of internal expertise as the primary barrier, while 66.4 percent pointed to liability ambiguities and 65.4 percent cited privacy risks. The overall surge in AI adoption across both individual and enterprise usage aligns with a broader worldwide push to draft comprehensive governance rules that aim to balance continued technological innovation with adequate data protection safeguards.
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