IBM Study Reveals CEOs Are Reshaping C-suite Roles for the AI Era
AI is reshaping the C-suite as 76% of firms now have a Chief AI Officer.
A new global study from the IBM Institute for Business Value, surveying 2,000 CEOs, reveals that AI is fundamentally reshaping C-suite roles. The most striking finding: 76% of organizations now have a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) in 2026, up from just 26% in 2025. Organizations with an AI-first approach to C-suite design have scaled 10% more AI initiatives enterprise-wide. 64% of CEOs say they are comfortable making major strategic decisions based on AI-generated input, and 83% agree that AI sovereignty is essential to business strategy. However, only 25% of the workforce uses AI regularly, despite 86% of CEOs believing employees have the necessary skills.
CEOs expect 48% of operational decisions to be made by AI without human intervention by 2030, up from 25% today. 79% of executives are decentralizing decision-making. By 2030, the influence of the CAIO is expected to increase, alongside a rising influence of the CHRO (59% say their influence will grow). 85% of CEOs say all functional leaders must become technology experts in their domain. Organizations that redesigned five core business areas (technology, finance, HR, operations, cross-functional collaboration) are four times more likely to have delivered on business objectives. The study underscores that AI success depends more on people’s adoption (83%) than technology.
- 76% of organizations now have a Chief AI Officer, up from 26% in 2025.
- 64% of CEOs are comfortable using AI for major strategic decisions; 83% see AI sovereignty as essential.
- Organizations redesigning five core business areas are 4x more likely to hit business objectives.
Why It Matters
Real AI transformation demands C-suite redesign, not just tech deployment—people and structure are key.