A world research of two,500 chief executives has revealed a transparent divide on the coronary heart of enterprise AI adoption: confidence within the know-how is at an all-time excessive, but so is the nervousness that organisations aren’t transferring quick sufficient to capitalise on it.
The analysis, printed by Cisco, attracts on responses from CEOs throughout 23 nations and marks the second consecutive yr the networking big has surveyed senior leaders on their attitudes towards synthetic intelligence.
The image that emerges is considered one of accelerating optimism operating headlong into cussed operational actuality.
From Scepticism to FOMO
Ninety-one p.c of respondents mentioned they’re extra optimistic about AI’s potential than they have been a yr in the past – a putting determine that means widespread scepticism among the many C-suite has largely evaporated.
However optimism has introduced a brand new drawback with it: worry of lacking out.
Sixty-five p.c of CEOs now fear they’re underinvesting in AI and lacking alternatives because of this.
That’s up sharply from 53 p.c who mentioned the identical in final yr’s survey – a 12-percentage-point soar in 12 months that displays how shortly the aggressive stakes round AI have risen in boardrooms globally.
Greater than two thirds (69 p.c) now contemplate AI adoption necessary for contemporary enterprise – not a aggressive benefit, not a nice-to-have, however a baseline requirement for staying related.
The Execution Hole
Regardless of the bullish sentiment, the analysis identifies three concrete obstacles which are slowing organisations down and making a widening hole between management ambition and ground-level readiness.
The primary is infrastructure. Greater than half of CEOs (53 p.c) worry that infrastructure limitations will maintain again their AI ambitions, and upgrading infrastructure to deal with AI workloads ranks as the only prime organisational precedence for 2026.
Carefully behind it’s upskilling groups for AI readiness – an indication that the folks and techniques drawback is being felt concurrently.
These considerations are backed up by separate information from Cisco’s 2026 AI Readiness Index, which surveyed greater than 8,000 IT leaders worldwide. That analysis discovered that fewer than 1 / 4 (22 p.c) fee their community as optimum for AI workloads – a sobering hole between what CEOs need to do and what their technical foundations can truly assist.
The second barrier is belief and safety. As organisations transfer towards deploying AI brokers – autonomous techniques that may execute duties independently – safety and management of these techniques has emerged because the main concern amongst CEOs.
Deploying AI brokers to work alongside workers ranks amongst CEOs’ prime three priorities for 2026, but the AI Readiness Index discovered that solely 31 p.c of organisations really feel outfitted to safe and management such techniques. The urge for food to deploy and the power to take action safely aren’t but aligned.
The third barrier is information. One in three CEOs (34 p.c) cited fragmented, inaccessible, or poor-quality information as the only best impediment to AI progress – greater than another problem within the survey.
The AI Readiness Index reinforces this, discovering that solely 19 p.c of organisations have totally centralised, AI-accessible information infrastructure in place. With out clear, related information, even the perfect AI tooling struggles to ship significant outcomes.
People Keep within the Loop – For Now
One of many extra nuanced findings considerations the longer term relationship between AI techniques and human employees.
Virtually each CEO surveyed expects AI to play a major function in enterprise operations by 2030, however the overwhelming majority – 72% – envision a future during which AI solely helps or executes work below human path, judgment, or governance.
The explanations are a mix of the sensible and the philosophical: maintaining AI techniques safe, guaranteeing productive human-AI collaboration, and navigating the ethics of autonomous decision-making. As one CEO put it plainly within the survey:
“Transfer quick with AI, however anchor choices in human values – at all times.”
The Data Hole Is Closing
One space of real progress stands out. The share of CEOs who mentioned their very own understanding of AI had held them again in boardroom discussions dropped from 74 to 47 p.c over the previous yr. Those that mentioned restricted AI data had blocked knowledgeable decision-making fell equally, from 74 to 49 p.c. The educational curve, it appears, has been steep however efficient.
Regional variations additionally surfaced. European CEOs, the analysis discovered, are much less preoccupied with pace and extra centered on getting AI adoption proper – putting larger emphasis on belief, transparency, and moral alignment. One European CEO provided a be aware of warning that displays the temper: “Keep away from dashing AI into choices with out transparency. Belief is tougher to regain than effectivity.”
What It All Means
Taken collectively, the findings sketch a C-suite that has moved decisively previous the “will this work?” part of AI adoption and into one thing extra uncomfortable: the popularity that falling behind is an actual threat, however that the infrastructure, information, and safety foundations wanted to maneuver quicker aren’t but in place.
The organisations that handle to shut all three gaps – community readiness, information centralisation, and AI safety – are already pulling forward, in keeping with Cisco’s index information. For everybody else, the race is on.
