Nearly 79% of respondents to Gurobi Optimization’s 2026 State of Mathematical Optimization Report now use GenAI or large language models (LLMs) in their optimization work, up from 30% in 2025, with 37% using these tools systematically in their development workflows.
Respondents see the greatest potential for this combined approach in code generation and debugging (68%), model formulation (67%), and natural-language interaction with optimization models (62%).
“The next opportunity for mathematical optimization isn’t just solving more complex problems. It’s about bringing powerful decision-making capabilities to more people and areas of the business,” says Duke Perrucci, CEO, Gurobi. “As optimization becomes increasingly integrated with business operations and other AI technologies, we’re seeing the foundations of a new generation of intelligent decision-making systems.”
Key takeaways:
- 52% of respondents say optimization supports ongoing decision-making at their organization, and 45% run it automatically in production workflows.
- 97% report that the number of applied optimization professionals at their organization is growing or holding steady.
- The share of respondents solving multi-objective problems rose from 32% in 2025 to 40% in 2026.
- 90% of respondents combine the two technologies on at least one project, up from 81% in each of the previous three years.
- Respondents named AI integration (67%) and faster real-time decision-making (57%) as the trends most affecting their optimization work.
