AI Unite
Suggest a report
IBM Institute for Business Value · May 2026

2026 CEO Study: 5 plays for AI-first transformation

IBM Institute for Business Value's 2026 CEO Study: 5 plays for AI-first transformation (May 2026; n=2,000, fielded Feb–Apr 2026) found that 25% of workers use AI regularly in their jobs, though 86% of CEOs think their people are ready.

Read the original report ↗Cite2 min read · Summary updated
Share of organizations with a Chief AI OfficerPercent of surveyed organizations with a Chief AI Officer
Source: IBM Institute for Business Value, 2026 CEO Study, 2026.

Key findings

  1. 01
    76% of organizations now have a Chief AI Officer, up from 26% a year earlier.
  2. 02
    Organizations that redesigned five core areas were four times more likely to achieve their AI objectives.
  3. 03
    CEOs expect 48% of operational decisions to be made by AI without human intervention by 2030.

By the numbers

25%of workers use AI regularly in their jobs, though 86% of CEOs think their people are ready
76%of organizations have a Chief AI Officer, up from 26% in 2025
48%of codifiable operational decisions CEOs expect AI to make without human intervention by 2030, vs. 25% today
Operational decisions CEOs expect AI to make without human interventionPercent of operational decisions (where consistency and guardrails can be codified), CEO estimates for today (2026) and 2030
Source: IBM Institute for Business Value, 2026 CEO Study, 2026.

What it means for you Draft

For executives at $10–100M companies

The gap between what CEOs believe and what employees actually do is the most transferable finding here. Before investing further, it may be worth simply asking how many of our people use AI weekly, and for what. A Chief AI Officer is unrealistic at our size, but naming one accountable owner is not.

Limitations

Medium trust.Large CEO sample, fieldwork disclosed; company size not given in release. IBM sells AI software and consulting.

About the publisher: IBM sells AI software and consulting.

The headline figure measures the “Tried it” stage of adoption (any use of ai).Why adoption numbers disagree

Cite the original

IBM Institute for Business Value. "2026 CEO Study: 5 plays for AI-first transformation." May 4, 2026. https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/c-suite-study/ceo

Related reports

Challenger · Oct 2026Challenger Report: September Layoff Plans Fall to 43,281; Seasonal Hiring MutedAI remains the most-cited reason for announced U.S. layoffs in 2026, though September cuts tied to AI were 3,961, about 9% of the month's total.Bain · Sep 2026Technology Report 2026Leaders expect a 95% developer productivity uplift in 1–2 years; current gains are 20–27%. Bain says AI moves bottlenecks into review and coordination.Gartner · Sep 2026Gartner Survey Finds Only 22% of Organizations Have Successfully Scaled AI Across Multiple Business Units (press release)85% of functional leaders plan to increase AI spending in 2026 after allocating an average 12% of functional budgets to AI in 2025.