en.Wedoany.com Reported - A new study by the IBM Institute for Business Value reveals that as artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to enterprise deployment, technology executives are grappling with a disconnect between governance systems and the pace of scaling. The study found that two-thirds of surveyed chief information officers and chief technology officers say they are responsible for AI systems they cannot fully control.
The survey of 2,000 C-suite technology executives globally found that a lack of visibility is widespread. 70% of respondents said that the speed at which teams in business units deploy technology has outpaced the IT department's ability to track it. Technology leaders are also under pressure to accelerate AI scaling, with the number of deployed AI agents expected to grow by 38% by 2027. Although 80% of respondents said their CEO has issued an AI transformation mandate, only 11% believe they are fully prepared for the scale of AI agent deployment expected next year. Governance is also lagging, with 77% of surveyed organizations reporting that the pace of AI adoption has already exceeded their current governance capabilities.
Matt Lyteson, IBM's Chief Information Officer, said that for technology executives, the challenge lies in scaling AI systems that operate autonomously and continuously, often within governance models and architectures designed for slower, more predictable environments. He noted that this is no longer just about deploying AI faster, but about redesigning how organizations control, govern, and invest in AI, embedding control and visibility from the start.
The analysis shows that in organizations relying on manual governance, the risk of incidents increases as AI adoption scales; conversely, organizations that embed controls directly into AI systems experience 25% fewer incidents. 59% of surveyed technology executives cited security and compliance concerns as the primary barrier to scaling AI agents. Surveyed organizations experienced an average of 54 AI agent incidents last year, 17% of which were high severity, requiring over four hours to contain. Of these incidents, 37% led to data exposure or security breaches, 33% triggered cascading system failures, and 17% caused compliance issues.
AI spending is projected to grow from nearly 15% of IT budgets in 2025 to nearly 25% by 2027, a 71% increase in two years, heightening risks for technology executives. However, 84% of technology executives have not yet fully operationalized AI financial management, and 85% still lack full visibility into real-time AI spending. The analysis found that organizations that build controls into their AI systems deploy 16 times more AI agents than those relying on manual governance, achieve 18% higher operating margins, and spend four times less on AI budgets. Organizations with stronger financial discipline deploy 2.4 times more AI agents without higher AI/IT budgets and are three times more likely to consider themselves fully prepared for AI scale. Those that design for adaptability early—keeping workloads portable and models replaceable—report 10% higher AI investment returns in 2025.
The study, conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with Oxford Economics, surveyed 2,000 executives responsible for IT, technology, or AI-related decisions across 33 countries and regions and 19 industries between January and April 2026.
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