Visa, Salesforce and ServiceNow flagged as AI adopters beyond Nvidia

Nvidia is still the loud name in artificial intelligence, but MarketWatch columnist David Weidner says investors hunting for real AI use should look at companies that are putting the technology into operations, filings and spending plans.

Weidner wrote that the megacap tech group known as the Magnificent Seven had fallen from its highs through the first half of 2026, while the S&P 500 was up more than 9%. He also said many AI-centered businesses trade at about 7 times revenue, compared with 2.7 times for the S&P 500.

His argument: the next test is documented deployment, not AI buzz. Since February, Weidner said he has reviewed more than 130 companies across 14 industries for AI adoption, investment and business results, including whether workforce reductions were tied to the technology.

Five companies stood out

Weidner said about half of the companies in his 130-stock index showed meaningful AI activity by at least one measure, though many were limited to mentions in risk disclosures. He singled out five companies where he said AI commitments were more visible in filings, capital allocation or staffing decisions: Visa, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Evolent Health and Pagaya Technologies.

Visa ranked highest in his dataset for documented AI commitment, according to Weidner. He cited the payments company’s annual report as saying 26,000 employees use AI tools, with 261,000 AI-powered interactions and more than 100 internal applications built on the technology. He said Visa recently traded at 27 times earnings, below the S&P 500 average, while noting that agentic AI could pose a threat to payment networks at checkout.

Salesforce was highlighted for reorganizing its product lineup around Agentforce, its AI platform. Weidner said the company has backed that shift with more than $3 billion in acquisitions and has cut thousands of jobs while rolling AI through its customer-relationship management products. He said the stock recently traded at 18 times earnings, while warning that AI-native rivals may be able to build competing tools more cheaply and faster.

ServiceNow made the list because of its AI acquisition push. Weidner cited more than $10 billion in AI-related deals in a single year, including a $2.85 billion purchase of Moveworks and a $7.75 billion deal for Armis. He said the company is rebuilding its workflow-automation platform around AI, though its recent valuation of 67 times earnings means investors are paying before the shift has shown up clearly in financial results.

Smaller names, bigger risks

Evolent Health ranked ahead of major insurers, hospital systems and health-tech platforms in Weidner’s index. He said the company uses AI for prior authorization and clinical-decision support for health plans. Its stock was down 39% over the past year, and Weidner put its market value at $654 million. He also noted that its business depends on health-plan relationships that can change quickly.

Pagaya Technologies, a fintech company, uses AI to make consumer-lending decisions for banks and lenders, according to Weidner. He said its filings document its AI focus and that it ranks ahead of Goldman Sachs and Netflix on documented AI adoption in his index. Pagaya’s market capitalization was about $1.4 billion, and its stock was down 45% over the past year, he wrote.

Weidner’s takeaway was that AI investors may need to separate companies that discuss the technology from those showing measurable effects in filings, investments and workforce choices. His list also came with a warning: adoption alone does not erase valuation, competition, healthcare or credit risks.

This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch.