The pet food industry seems to be divided on artificial intelligence adoption, with many companies still evaluating how these emerging technologies might transform their operations. A recent poll conducted on petfoodindustry.com explored how pet food professionals are currently using AI across product development, formulation, production and marketing, while identifying the primary barriers preventing wider implementation. The two-week survey revealed significant variation in both AI adoption rates and perceived priorities for future investment.
Current AI usage varies widely across companies
The survey results show the industry is split nearly down the middle on AI implementation. Among respondents, 36% report active AI use, with nearly 16% deploying the technology across multiple operational areas and 21% focusing on one or two specific applications. However, a significant portion of the industry has yet to embrace AI, with 26% of companies not currently using any AI tools and another 26% remaining unsure about their AI status or having no opinion on the technology.
An additional 12% of respondents indicated they are evaluating AI tools but have not yet moved to implementation, suggesting the adoption numbers may increase in the coming months as these companies complete their assessment processes.
Expertise gaps top list of adoption barriers
When asked about the biggest obstacles preventing AI adoption, respondents identified lack of expertise as the primary challenge, with nearly 25% citing insufficient technical knowledge or staff as their main barrier. This skills gap significantly outpaced other concerns in the survey.
The other large category of barriers fell under "other" responses (27%), indicating that many companies face challenges not captured in the standard survey options. Among the specified barriers, outdated systems and legacy workflows present obstacles for 15% of respondents, while 17% see no perceived need for AI, believing their current processes work adequately without technological enhancement.
Data quality issues affect nearly 10% of companies, preventing them from moving forward with AI applications, while cost concerns and unclear return on investment represent barriers for just 7% of respondents — suggesting that financial considerations may be less significant than anticipated.
Marketing applications lead AI investment priorities
Despite varied adoption rates, companies show clear preferences for where AI could deliver the most value. Marketing and sales applications dominate future AI investment priorities, with 35% of respondents identifying customer targeting and campaign optimization as the area that would benefit most from AI implementation.
Market insights, including consumer trends and competitive analysis, ranked second at 21%, followed by production efficiency improvements focused on manufacturing optimization and quality control at 18%. Both product formulation applications, such as recipe optimization and ingredient alternatives, and regulatory compliance processes tied for the lowest priority at 13% each.
The emphasis on marketing and sales suggests that pet food companies view AI primarily as a tool for better understanding and reaching consumers rather than for optimizing internal operations or product development processes.
Survey methodology: Data collected August 7-21, 2025, from 139 pet food industry professionals via Petfoodindustry.com polling platform.
