As business leaders continue to transform their companies and strategies around AI, they face a new and largely unmapped set of stakeholder expectations. Calls for responsible development and deployment continue, yet leaders lack an organizing framework that objectively defines responsibility and enables consistent and comparable practice across companies. Just Capital’s ongoing AI-focused polling initiative aims to fill this gap.
In early 2026, Just Capital conducted its second quarterly survey of the American public, investors, and corporate leaders. The ongoing initiative is designed to offer a roadmap for companies looking to build trust in the AI era and a framework to begin to define what responsible business leadership in the age of AI really means. The inaugural wave of this research initiative was conducted in the fall of 2025, and quarterly surveys will continue through 2026 and beyond to track perceptions as the technology evolves.
The organization today published its second full report Spring 2026 American Public, Investor, and Corporate Leader Perspectives on Responsible AI Deployment: AI Optimism Rises but Concerns Remain. The research revealed key changes between Fall 2025 and Spring 2026:
Findings from the second wave of Just Capital’s AI-focused polling suggests we are entering a period of growing confidence, but also one that demands continued focus on transparency, accountability, and broad benefit-sharing. Recent analysis from Just Capital on the state of corporate disclosure reveals that just 37% of the 110 companies analyzed disclose responsible AI principles or guidelines.
“There’s no shortage of ambition around AI, but there is a shortage of clarity on what responsible deployment actually looks like in practice. That’s a gap we aim to fill,” said Just Capital CEO Martin Whittaker. “This research is designed to give leaders a clear, data-driven starting point for building the kind of trust that earns and maintains long-term social license to operate.”
Methodology
In January 2026, Just Capital surveyed 1,000 American adults in partnership with Harris Poll, 103 corporate executives (84 c-suite executives and 19 board members or senior-level executives) in partnership with Gerson Lehrman Group, and 100 institutional investors and analysts in partnership with NewtonX. This survey was the second wave of an ongoing quarterly polling initiative.
About Just Capital
Just Capital is the foremost independent organization advancing responsible business leadership. We translate insights from public polling, performance data, and financial analysis into actionable intelligence leaders can use to drive long-term business success and shared prosperity for people across America.Our flagship product Just Intelligence is designed to offer a comprehensive view of public expectations, stakeholder performance, and sector realities in order to drive responsible decision-making. When companies make better decisions, they can create lasting value for shareholders, contribute to stronger communities, and help drive broader economic and societal progress. For more information, visit justcapital.com.
Last week, Just Capital brought together some of the world’s most influential business leaders, philanthropists, and government officials at Nasdaq’s MarketSite for our 2026 Best of American Business Celebration — supported by sponsors Accenture, Bank of America, and many more.
The day was defined by candor with seven fireside chats moderated by leading media figures. The conversations occurred under Chatham House rules, so we cannot directly attribute quotes, but we’re sharing two themes that dominated the discussions.
One refrain we heard repeatedly was the importance of keeping humans in charge of AI systems. One organization said their ethos was “humans in the lead” not just humans in the loop. It’s a deceptively simple idea, but in a world racing to automate, it’s a radical one.
Speakers also emphasized that neither government nor business alone cannot absorb the disruption that’s coming. Addressing AI’s impact on workers will require public private partnership to fundamentally reimagine how value is defined, rewarded, and shared One speaker even mentioned how dealing with this impact will go beyond workforce issues, and will force us to rethink how America handles things like health insurance, childcare infrastructure, and the social safety net at large.
There was a pointed message to CEOs in the room about the choice before them: use these tools to help people do more and better work, or use them simply to reduce headcount. One speaker referenced NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s recent statement that leaders who laid off employees were “lacking imagination” in how AI tools could transform employee work, and it was clear the moral weight of how to handle this transition will define how history judges this generation of business leaders.On an optimistic note, there was general agreement that, with the right guardrails and widespread access, AI will provide significant value to society through innovations in healthcare, engineering, and education. Our latest polling shows that the American public agrees. Many leaders also believed that academia and nonprofits lack access to frontier models, which presents a structural problem that deprives these sectors of many of the technology’s gains if this continues.
On an optimistic note, there was general agreement that, with the right guardrails and widespread access, AI will provide significant value to society through innovations in healthcare, engineering, and education. Our latest polling shows that the American public agrees. Many leaders also believed that academia and nonprofits lack access to frontier models, which presents a structural problem that deprives these sectors of many of the technology’s gains if this continues.
If AI was the operational challenge in the room, the state of capitalism was the philosophical one.
Several leaders spoke with striking frankness about the erosion of public trust across the spectrum: in business, in capitalism, in the accessibility of the American dream, and in “brand America” abroad. It was clear that those in attendance were worried about the possibility of AI exacerbating these issues.
This concern was echoed from leaders across sectors – corporate leaders, investors, philanthropists, and policymakers. The idea that the very foundations on which markets depend is at risk was not an outlying perspective. It was a common thesis of the night.
There was also a belief that specific sectors were more vulnerable than others. One speaker drew a direct parallel between the major social media platform liability cases moving through the courts today and the first successful lawsuits against big tobacco, a flashpoint where public opinion decisively turns on one of the largest sectors of the American economy.
Leaders agreed that all of these issues could present an economic and social crisis soon.
In the end, the event left us debating profound questions: What kind of future do we want? How do we in this room shape it?
We at Just Capital believe in the power of markets and the private sector to advance society and build a better future for more people at scale. In an AI-powered future, the best of American business will continue to do just that.
Thank you to our insightful speakers and moderators, and thank you again to our sponsors!
Recent research on public attitudes toward AI reflect a rising level of unease and concern about the technology and its potential impacts on the workforce, relationships, and education. A closer look at public priorities suggests the views of the public are more nuanced than other polls may indicate and the path forward for AI-focused corporate leaders is clearer than overall sentiment polling implies.
In March 2026, Just Capital prompted the American public to prioritize AI-related issues rather than measure general sentiment. The results reveal that public support for AI is not absent but conditional: it depends on whether companies can demonstrate how they are managing risk responsibly while delivering on AI’s greatest potential to improve society. An early review of corporate disclosure suggests most companies have not yet made that case clearly or consistently.
When asked to rank priorities rather than express general views, Americans reveal a more balanced perspective than headline sentiment polls suggest. They highly prioritize the use of AI to advance innovations in health, education, and engineering to solve complex societal problems, even ranking this above concerns around workforce disruption and environmental impacts.
At the same time, the three highest-ranked priorities are focused on safety concerns: preventing harm, deception, and manipulation; keeping humans in charge; and protecting personal data and privacy. This suggests public support would be bolstered by companies articulating the guardrails around the technology. Americans are watching to see whether companies can deploy AI responsibly.
We reviewed AI-related disclosures at six hyperscalers and 104 additional companies that rank highly in the organization’s measure of overall responsible business practices. Even among these 110 companies, most with strong disclosure track records across workforce, community, environment, customer, and governance issues, AI-related reporting is inconsistent and lacks common definition.
Two of six hyperscalers publish dedicated AI Transparency Reports. Fifty percent of companies disclose board-level involvement in AI risk oversight, but just 37% of the 110 companies analyzed disclose responsible AI principles or guidelines. Among those that do, disclosure is uneven on the issues Americans rank highest: only 16 companies mention preventing harm, deception, and manipulation; 27 mention human oversight; and 37 mention customer privacy and data protection.
Across Just Capital’s broader analysis of 933 public American companies, the picture is even less clear. The share of companies committing to not selling user data in any context dropped 3.5% year over year, and 3% fewer companies commit to not using user data for advertising. The average number of employee training hours fell from 24.34 per employee in 2024 to 21.96 in 2025, despite calls for more AI-focused training and reskilling opportunities. Among the smaller group of 110 companies analyzed further, 39 disclose formal AI training programs for employees.
As companies accelerate AI deployment, clearly and consistently defining responsible AI development and deployment will be a meaningful point of distinction for the American public. This analysis suggests the public will be more likely to extend trust to companies that demonstrate they are using AI to deliver genuine social benefit while protecting people from the greatest risks.
The full list of public priorities identified by Just Capital is below. These priorities are being translated into trackable metrics for ongoing analysis.
Methodology
Just Capital regularly conducts independent surveys to track Americans’ priorities, values, and expectations for corporate behavior, which serve as a foundational input into its Just Intelligence tool, rankings, and research products. Priorities weights were determined via maximum-differential (Max-Diff) to quantify the relative importance of each of the AI-related issue statements.
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Just Capital from March 12–16, 2026 among 2,012 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. Data from this survey have been weighted to align with known population parameters from the U.S. Census Bureau on key characteristics including [age, gender, geography, etc.]. While weighting adjusts for demographic imbalances, this survey is based on a non-probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. Findings should be interpreted accordingly.
New York, NY, March 17, 2026 – Today, in partnership with CNBC, we are announcing our 2026 Rankings of America’s largest public companies. Now in their 10th year, the Rankings celebrate companies for their performance on the issues that matter most to the American people, such as paying a fair, living wage; supporting worker well-being, advancement, and training; communicating transparently; and acting ethically at the leadership level.
The 2026 Rankings showcase responsible business leadership across 20 industries. As AI and other transformative technologies reshape the economy, business leaders require precise, decision-grade data to weigh tradeoffs, manage risk, and plan for the future. In service of this, ranked companies can now explore their performance in-depth through Just Capital’s flagship Just Intelligence product. The platform has been updated to include an AI-enabled chatbot, currently in beta, which allows users to pose queries that draw on Just Capital’s robust corporate performance database and business case library.
This year, Just Capital is proud to celebrate 21 companies with Industry Leader designations. View them below, and explore the Rankings here.
Automobiles & Parts: Lear Corporation
Banks: M&T Bank Corp
Basic Resources: Freeport-McMoRan Inc
Chemicals: Ecolab Inc
Construction & Materials: Trane Technologies
Consumer Products & Services: Nike Inc
Energy: Marathon Petroleum Corp
Financial Services: S&P Global Inc
Food, Beverage & Tobacco: The Hershey Company
Health Care: The Cigna Group
Industrial Goods & Services: Union Pacific Corp
Insurance: The Hartford Insurance Group
Media: The Walt Disney Company
Personal Care, Drug & Grocery Stores: CVS Health Corporation
Real Estate: Zillow Group Inc
Retail: Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Technology: HP Inc
Telecommunications: Ciena Corporation
Travel & Leisure: Starbucks Corporation
Utilities: Constellation Energy Corporation & Public Service Enterprise Group Inc
The 2026 Industry Leaders demonstrate common areas of strength across sectors including workforce investment, governance discipline, and environmental transparency. All Industry Leaders are ranked in the top 100 overall, and 16 of 21 improved their overall rank year-over-year
“At a time of great uncertainty, and with questions being asked about the future of capitalism, our Rankings are designed to celebrate American business at its best,” says Just Capital CEO Martin Whittaker. “This year’s Industry Leaders demonstrate that delivering value for shareholders, the economy, and society at large is not a trade-off, it’s a blueprint for success.”
Just Capital tracks the financial performance of the top performing companies in their analysis. The organization’s flagship index (JULCD) tracks the top 50% of performers across each industry and, as of March 10, 2026, has outperformed the Russell 1000 benchmark by 12.7% since inception in 2016. The Just 100 Index which tracks the top 100 overall performers has outperformed the Russell 1000 equal-weighted index by 55.6% since inception in 2019.
In February 2026, the organization released enhanced capabilities within its flagship Just Intelligence product. Just Intelligence supports strategic planning and decision-making by offering a comprehensive view of public expectations and sector realities, and by connecting those signals to core business outcomes. The platform is built on more than a decade of Just Capital’s public opinion research and corporate performance data, and surfaces areas of relative over- and under-performance across a company’s stakeholder ecosystem, including workers, customers, communities, environment, and shareholders.
Just Intelligence now includes a new AI-powered chatbot for users to understand and improve their company’s stakeholder performance in a more accessible and engaging manner. Users can pose queries in natural language to quickly surface actionable insights from Just Capital’s database of performance analysis and business case library. The chatbot is currently in beta and available to paid subscribers of Just Intelligence.
Since 2015, Just Capital has surveyed nearly 200,000 Americans on their priorities for just business behavior. The annual Rankings assess 933 of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies using a model grounded in the priorities of the American public. Companies are evaluated across 17 issues spanning workforce investment, customer trust, governance accountability, environmental performance, and community impact.
For the 2026 Rankings, Just Capital updated its industry classification to align with Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB) supersectors. This year the organization introduced new industry-specific data points and removed data points that were less relevant based on industry context. Many metrics continue to be evaluated across the full universe, ensuring comparability on cross-industry topics including broadly applicable governance and workforce practices.
Organization Unveils Second Generation Platform and New Brand Identity to Help Business Leaders Deliver Value for Shareholders, Economy, and Society
NEW YORK, NY February 17, 2026 – Just Capital, the foremost independent organization advancing responsible business leadership, announced the culmination of its strategic transformation into a stakeholder-focused data and insights platform. Building on more than a decade of impact, the organization released an updated version of its flagship Just Intelligence product, alongside a new brand identity, logo, and website, to serve as an objective partner to companies as they shape outcomes for their business, workers, communities, and the economy and society at large.
“Just Capital’s evolution was driven by the conviction that the decisions leaders make today will define business and societal outcomes for decades to come,” said Martin Whittaker, Chief Executive Officer of Just Capital. “We have enhanced our capabilities to help companies optimize their stakeholder investments through independent and comprehensive insights in service of their ability to compete and win in a changing marketplace. Our vision is an economy where business success and shared prosperity move forward together.”
Just Capital has launched upgraded functionality and performance data within Just Intelligence. Just Intelligence supports strategic planning and decision-making by offering a comprehensive view of public expectations, sector realities, and stakeholder performance, and by connecting those signals to core business outcomes. The platform is built on Just Capital’s decade of public opinion research and corporate performance data, and it surfaces areas of relative over- and under-performance across a company’s stakeholder ecosystem, including workers, customers, communities, environment, and shareholders. New features include:
These capabilities help leaders identify which stakeholder investments have the power to drive long-term business performance, enabling them to create value that compounds beyond their firm to benefit shareholders, the economy, and society at large.
“At a time where looking around corners has never been more important, Just Intelligence offers insights leaders can use in moments of complexity to evaluate real tradeoffs across growth, risk, technology, and societal expectations,” said Whittaker. “Our goal is to help leaders navigate those tradeoffs with clarity and confidence.”
Just Capital’s transformation was informed by a review process including direct engagement with CEOs, C-suite leaders, and board members of some of America’s most influential companies. Five Fortune 500 companies are vanguard users of the paid product, helping to shape the platform’s evolution ahead of broader market rollout and adoption. Just Intelligence and the platform’s ongoing enhancements are grounded in feedback from a beta period with 250+ corporate users and interviews with more than 45 business leaders on the user experience, value proposition, and industry relevance.
Russell 1000 companies have access to the Performance Explorer tool with select stakeholder indicators available. Subscribers can access full metrics, Peer Comparison, and Leading Practice capabilities. The platform and its features will be updated on an ongoing basis.
Just Capital’s refreshed visual identity marks the evolution of the organization from an external evaluator to a performance partner. The new website and tools within Just Intelligence are built to support forward-looking decision-making rather than retrospective assessments of past performance. Just Capital’s annual Rankings will continue to serve as a tool to showcase performance and insights to inform responsible business leadership. The 2026 Rankings will be announced in March 2026.
In Fall 2025, Just Capital launched its inaugural research from surveys of corporate leaders, investors, and the American public on responsible AI deployment. The organization will conduct quarterly pulse surveys through 2026 and beyond, providing ongoing insights for corporate leaders, investors, and policy makers as perspectives continue to evolve. AI-focused insights will feed into Just Intelligence in 2026.
As part of this strategic focus, the Corporate Impact Lab has begun the process of becoming an independent organization. Just Capital has been proud to incubate the Corporate Impact Lab since its inception in 2022. In 2026, the Corporate Impact Lab will be fiscally sponsored by Just Capital and operate independently. Both organizations share the mutual goal of the Corporate Impact Lab becoming a fully independent organization in 2026, subject to the completion of necessary regulatory, legal, and other administrative requirements.
Just Capital is the foremost independent organization advancing responsible business leadership. We translate insights from public polling, performance data, and financial analysis into actionable intelligence leaders can use to drive long-term business success and shared prosperity for people across America. Our flagship product Just Intelligence is designed to offer a comprehensive view of public expectations, stakeholder performance, and sector realities in order to drive responsible decision-making. When companies make better decisions, they can create lasting value for shareholders, contribute to stronger communities, and help drive broader economic and societal progress. For more information, visit justcapital.com.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Tyler Spalding: tspalding@justcapital.com
1. Only 53% of Americans believe large U.S. companies are very or somewhat just, the lowest percentage since we began this polling in 2019. Only 35% believe our current form of capitalism is working for the average American.
2. This is at odds with the expectations of the public. 80% believe business can be a force for positive social change and 89% agree it’s important that companies promote an economy that serves all Americans.
3. When we dig deeper, Americans care most about worker-related issues such as providing a fair and living wage, supporting worker well-being, and offering advancement and training opportunities, alongside employee benefits.
4. As AI and automation become even more dominant in 2026, leaders have a significant challenge ahead to innovate and grow their business while continuing to invest in and cultivate their workforce. Our recently released research on perceptions of AI amongst corporate leaders, investors, and the American public aims to help them identify key considerations for responsible AI deployment at scale.
Perceptions of performance on just business behavior peaked during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. Since then, the gap between those who view companies as just versus unjust has narrowed to its smallest margin in seven years, suggesting declining confidence in corporate behavior.
The public indicates belief that companies are overwhelmingly focused on shareholders at the expense of their workers and customers. The shift since 2020 is stark: while shareholder prioritization has remained constant or even intensified in the public’s view, they believe attention to workers and customers has languished.
76% of Americans say companies positively impact shareholders compared to other stakeholders, to society, and even compared to quality jobs. The starkest gap appears in perceptions of impact on the financial well-being of a companies’ lowest-paid workers.
Over time, the erosion of public confidence has accelerated, with Americans increasingly convinced that companies prioritize investors to the exclusion of all other stakeholders.
When asked whether capitalism is working for the average American, the majority of respondents say no. This negative sentiment has persisted for four years, with 2021 marking the narrowest gap between those who agree and disagree that the system is working.
This sentiment is remarkably consistent across demographics. In nearly every group — regardless of age, income, race, or political affiliation — the majority believe capitalism is NOT working for the average American. The exception is Conservatives, who have a lower, yet still substantial share who express doubts about capitalism’s effectiveness to generate shared prosperity.
Eighty percent of Americans think that business can be a force for positive change. The public also has high expectations of corporate America across a variety of factors, such as the ethical use of AI in business operations, the relationship between transparency and trust, and the desire for companies to operationalize value creation rather than simply making public commitments. What is additionally striking is the consistent level of agreement on these sentiments across political ideologies.
Although the public is looking for action over verbal commitment, there is an opportunity for leaders to better communicate how they are positively serving their workers, customers, and communities.
While a quarter of Americans say that CEOs should stay away from taking a stand on any societal issues, three-quarters say that they do have a role to play in societal issues, especially when they concern issues related to their business.
While 70 to 93 percent of Americans say it’s important for companies to engage in various responsible business practices, their evaluations of actual corporate performance indicate skepticism that expectations are being met. The largest gaps between expectation and perceived performance emerge in two critical areas: ensuring equal pay for equal work and contributing to an economy that serves all Americans.
Overall, Americans continue to prioritize worker-related issues, with four of the five worker issues ranking in the top six out of 17 total issues. Customer-related issues are also prioritized in the top 10.
When we dig deeper, we find a remarkable consistency across demographic groups in the three highest-ranked Issues: Pays a fair, living wage, supports worker well-being, and acts ethically at the leadership level. These findings signal that the public continues to be united around the issues they want companies to prioritize.
Over the past seven years, “Pays workers fairly and offers a living wage that covers the cost of basic needs at the local level” has consistently ranked 1st across nearly every demographic cohort. At 11.5%, this issue’s weight remains relatively stable from last year, but is lower than at its peak of 21% in 2023, suggesting that while a fair, living wage continues to be fundamental to public perceptions of just corporate behavior, its degree of importance has declined in favor of other worker issues.
“Supports worker well-being and provides safe and healthy working conditions,” which rises to the second-highest ranked issue. This elevation likely reflects heightened concern about maintaining positive, supportive work environments that prioritize workers’ humanity.
Likewise, “Invests in its workforce by providing training, education, and career development opportunities” takes the #5 spot, and comprises 7.2% of the model, up from 6.9% the year before. The rise in worker training priorities likely reflects the growing desire among workers for upskilling in an AI-driven economy — a trend corroborated by findings in our AI survey.
“Conducts business ethically and honestly, and takes responsibility for wrongdoings” ranks #3 overall, followed by “Honest and transparent in communications with customers about its products, services, and operations,” at #4. Both issues made the top 4 last year, and their sustained prominence takes on new significance in the age of AI. As systems become more opaque and complex, the public’s insistence on ethical conduct and transparency suggests a fundamental demand: companies must demystify their AI practices and be accountable for decisions that affect their stakeholders’ lives.
Finally, the biggest mover this year is “Protects the privacy of customers, including their data,” which moved to #8 from #10 last year. As we found in our AI survey, the public fears that rushed AI adoption, combined with weak security protocols, could expose personal information to breaches, misuse, or unauthorized access.
The results of the survey reflect an ongoing call from the American people for a “back to basics” business approach. The public clearly defines just business behavior as companies paying fair wages, providing good benefits and training, creating safe and fulfilling workplaces, offering opportunities to advance, treating customers fairly, and supporting the communities in which they operate.
As AI and automation become even more dominant in 2026, leaders have a significant challenge ahead to innovate and grow their business while continuing to invest in and cultivate their workforce. Our recently released research on perceptions of AI amongst corporate leaders, investors, and the American public aims to help them identify key considerations for responsible AI deployment at scale.
Americans’ Views on Business Survey
Since 2015, JUST Capital has surveyed close to 200,000 Americans to assess how well they think companies are doing when it comes to creating value for all their stakeholders and building a more just economy that truly works for all. The 2025 Americans’ Views on Business Survey was fielded among 2,004 Americans – a sample representative of the U.S. adult population – between August 18 through September 2, 2025. Our quantitative research partner is SSRS, an objective, nonpartisan research institution that provides scientifically rigorous statistical surveys of the U.S. population.
The People’s Priorities Survey
Just Capital’s definition of just business behavior begins by hearing from a diverse, representative sample of Americans through small-group qualitative discussions to understand what they expect from a “just” business. This year, the major themes we translated into issues came from open-ended responses to the following question:
Q1. Think now about the largest companies in the U.S., with hundreds or thousands of employees. We would like to know what you would consider to be “just” business behavior for these companies as it relates to various groups of people. By “just” we mean “fair or good” behavior.
Before answering this question, however, we provide respondents a clear definition of the concept: A just company demonstrates a commitment to doing right by its workers, its customers, the environment, the community, its shareholders, and the business itself.
Respondents were prompted to answer this question from the point of view of one of five stakeholders (Workers, Customers, Communities, The Environment, or Shareholders).
Q1.1 For example, actions you would expect a just company to take related to its Workers
Our polling team then distills the major themes from these discussions into discrete statements, which we define as “Issues.” Subsequently, we conduct a quantitative survey of 2,000 U.S. adults in which they rank the relative importance of these 17 Issues.
We conducted the survey online with a probability-based sample attained through the statistical sampling methods employed by SSRS. The SSRS Opinion Panel is a nationally representative probability-based web panel, and findings are generalizable to the general adult population.
The survey is drawn from a probability sample, ensuring we capture diverse perspectives from a cross-section of Americans. This includes representation across demographic dimensions (race/ethnicity, gender, income, and age), as well as other characteristics such as political ideology.
The full survey was conducted from August 18 through September 2, 2025 among a general population sample of 2,004 English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. adults ages 18 and older, with an oversample of 470 Hispanic and 253 non-Hispanic Black respondents. Panelists were sent an email invitation to take the survey online as well as up to eight reminder emails throughout the field period. The survey program was optimized so that respondents could complete it using a desktop or laptop computer as well as a mobile device. In total, 610 respondents completed the survey on a computer and 1,394 completed it on a mobile device.
The margin of error is +/- 2.0% at the 95% confidence level. Results were weighted to U.S. census parameters for age, gender, education, race/Hispanic ethnicity, and census division to ensure representativeness of the U.S. population. All margins of error include “design effects” to adjust for the effects of weighting.
