Health and finance sectors lead in most AI-driven industries

The healthcare has emerged as the top sector in industries with most Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven solutions.

A recent study by Yijin Hardware indicates that the health sector leads with an AI engagement score of 100, reflecting a large number of AI start-ups and extensive financial support.

According to the study, the global AI start-up investments in healthcare amount to $4.2 billion including medical AI-analysis of X-rays and MRIs, administrative automation and drug development.

Currently, the study indicates there are 11,228 healthcare-specific active AI startups across the world.

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The research aimed at assessing the level of AI dependency across various industries in 2025. The research takes into account global investments in AI start-ups, the number of industry-specific AI start-ups, interest in AI technologies reflected through Google search volume, and top uses for AI technologies in the industry.

READ: AI and data science, a path to inclusive public health

To value this, the researchers analysed three key metrics including search volume for AI in industry-specific terms, number of AI-related startups and global AI start-up investment.

Each metric was assigned a weight based on its relevance to the level of AI adoption.

This included a 50 per cent on the number of AI-related startups, 30 per cent on AI investment and 20 per cent on search volume.

After applying the weights to each metric, the data was normalized on a scale from 1 to 100, with 100 representing the highest AI adoption within the industry.

The final ranking is based on the AI engagement score, which was calculated using the key factors described above.

According to the research, the finance sector ranks 2nd in the list of the most AI-driven industries in 2025, with a score of 72.4.

There is a similar number of AI startups, 11,057, but the funding is smaller.

Global investments sum up to $2.1 billion, two times less than for healthcare with the main AI uses in the sector including fraud monitoring and trading automation.

The marketing and advertising sector is third, getting an AI engagement score of 60.9.

READ: Africa adopts AI technology in healthcare to boost diagnosis

According to the report, there is more interest in AI innovations in the sector from the general public than in finance, with 241,000 monthly searches.

The global funding comes to $1.1 billion for over 9,970 AI start-ups.

Legal services follow closely with fourth place and a score of 58.1. The number of AI start-ups in the industry is a little lower than in marketing & advertising, but the finding is much smaller at $0.4 billion, 5 times less than for finance and 10 times less than for healthcare.

Education and learning is fifth in the ranking of the most AI-driven industries in 2025, with an AI engagement score of 41.8.

The innovations in this sector are the second most popular, with over 399,000 queries each month.

Most popular AI innovations in the industry are related to virtual tutoring and test grading automation.

With regards to the least AI-driven industries, construction is the least AI-driven sector with a minimal possible score of 1.

The report indicates there are less than 700 active startups in the sector, with a total funding of $200 million, the lowest in the list.

Insurance takes second place among the least AI-driven industries of 2025, getting an AI engagement score of 5.2.

The public interest towards AI innovations for insurance is higher than for construction, with 61K monthly queries and there are currently 678 active startups in the industry.

Real estate holds third place, scoring 5.4. The funding for it is the same as for insurance AI innovations, at $600 million globally, although there are more startups for AI in the sector than in insurance or construction, with 799.

Manufacturing ranks 4th, getting an AI engagement score of 9.5. The general interest in AI in the industry is similar to insurance, but the startups gather more funding, with $900 million.

The most explored directions for AI innovations in manufacturing are machine failure detection and quality control.

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Agriculture closes the ranking of the least A-driven industries with fifth place and a score of 11.4.

The report indicates there are over 1,700 start-ups focused specifically on AI in agriculture, developing technologies for spotting insect pests and monitoring crop health.

At the same time, the funding for AI in agriculture is smaller than for manufacturing or real estate at $500 million.

Yijin Hardware spokesperson said the clear divide in AI adoption across industries reveals a growing innovation inequality that could permanently transform competitive landscapes.

“This widening gap is not just about efficiency gains, it represents a fundamental reimagining of how entire sectors function, with early AI adopters positioned to completely redefine market rules while technological laggards face increasingly difficult catch-up challenges,” said the spokesperson.

According to them, as algorithms become more sophisticated, this digital divide threatens to become permanent, potentially creating entirely separate economic ecosystems operating at dramatically different speeds and capabilities.