AI is forcing a rethink of power at the top
A new study from the IBM Institute for Business Value indicates that the accelerating pace of AI is forcing CEOs to restructure how the C-suite roles are structured to achieve greater business impact.
Among the key findings:
- 76% of surveyed organizations have a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) in 2026, up from just 26% in 2025.
- Analysis shows that organizations with an AI-first approach to C-suite design have scaled 10% more AI initiatives enterprise-wide than their peers.
- 64% of surveyed CEOs say they are comfortable making major strategic decisions based on AI-generated input.
- 83% of respondents agree that AI sovereignty is essential to business strategy, underscoring the importance of having the right controls as AI plays a larger enterprise-wide role.
- Surveyed CEOs say only 25% of the workforce is using AI regularly as part of their job, despite 86% believing their employees have the skills to collaborate with AI.
As CEOs turn to AI-driven decisions, governance and controls become more critical
- By 2030, surveyed CEOs expect 48% of operational decisions where consistency and guardrails can be codified will be made by AI without human intervention, compared to 25% today.
- 79% of executives surveyed confirm they are decentralizing decision-making, distributing accountability as AI plays a more significant role enterprise wide.
Adoption is rising, but transformation is lagging
According to a study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, almost 6,000 business leaders across four countries reported that artificial intelligence had barely changed their workforce or output over the past three years.
In the research, C-suite leaders and other senior decision-makers were surveyed in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. Approximately 70% of respondents indicated that they used artificial intelligence in some form. But executives reported spending only about 1.5 hours a week with the technology, and 1 in 4 said they never touched it at work.
Over the past three years, more than 80% of participants reported that AI had no effect on head count or per-worker output.
These same leaders did anticipate significant changes. They predicted a 1.4% bump in productivity and forecast that headcount would shrink 0.7% within three years. Workers told a separate survey the opposite, expecting a 0.5% job rise. The mismatch between employers and employees may influence how companies approach hiring and automation.
The disconnect between AI promises and reality carries real costs for the average person. To cool data centers, artificial intelligence consumes an enormous amount of electricity and water, putting a strain on local grids and resulting in higher utility bills.
Leadership in the AI age
New global research from Dataiku, the Platform for AI Success, conducted by Harris Poll, reveals that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a defining test of CEO success, tenure, and legacy. Nowhere is this shift more pronounced than in the UAE, where CEOs increasingly believe their future in the role will be determined by their ability to deliver measurable, defensible outcomes from AI.
The findings from the 2026 edition of Dataiku’s CEO Confessions Study, show that 79% of UAE CEOs believe their role is at risk if their organisation fails to deliver tangible business gains from AI by the end of 2026. More than half (53%) say experience leading a successful AI strategy will soon (within 2 years) become the top criterion boards use when appointing a new CEO, underscoring how quickly AI is reshaping leadership expectations.
The pressure is also personal. The UAE ranks highest globally for the proportion of CEOs (23%) who believe the way their organisation is using AI today could jeopardise their long-term legacy, more than double the global average. Together, these findings highlight that AI is no longer a strategic initiative CEOs oversee, but a responsibility they must own.
As a result, UAE CEOs are taking a more direct role in shaping AI strategy. Three-quarters (75%) say their involvement in AI-related decisions has increased over the past year, and more than half (55%) identify themselves as the single most influential stakeholder in determining their organisation’s AI direction, well ahead of IT, data, or business leaders.
This contrast highlights a critical inflection point. The winners in the AI era will not be those who adopt the fastest, but those who execute the smartest—aligning technology with talent, governance, and real business value. For CEOs, the mandate is clear: move beyond experimentation to measurable impact, or risk falling behind in a landscape where AI is no longer optional, but foundational to future success.
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