CEOs fear they’re underinvesting in AI

2026-07-07 · Source: Information and Enterprise Technology News | CIO Dive - Www.ciodive.com · Field: Business & Management — Corporate Strategy & Leadership, Operations & Process Management, Project & Product Management · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, quick

Summary

A Cisco survey, published July 7, 2026, reveals that almost two-thirds of 2,500 CEOs across 23 countries fear underinvesting in AI, with 69% deeming AI adoption essential for competitiveness. Over half of these executives believe their current infrastructure limits AI initiatives, making infrastructure modernization their top technology priority for 2026, cited by 40% of CEOs. Other priorities include upskilling teams, deploying AI agents, and strengthening governance. The findings indicate a shift for CIOs towards modernizing enterprise foundations. Cisco's 2025 AI Readiness Index shows fewer than 25% of networks are AI-optimized and only 19% of in-house data is centralized, highlighting infrastructure, security, and data management as primary bottlenecks. Despite these challenges, CEO understanding of AI has improved, with fewer than half now citing a lack of knowledge as a hindrance, down from 74%. This indicates a growing focus on responsible and scalable AI deployment, with 72% of CEOs expecting human oversight of AI systems through 2030.

Key takeaway

For CTOs and Directors of AI/ML evaluating AI investment strategies, this data underscores the critical need to prioritize foundational infrastructure modernization. Your current systems likely present significant bottlenecks to scalable AI deployment, impacting competitiveness. Focus your 2026 planning on upgrading networks and centralizing data, alongside upskilling teams and strengthening governance, to ensure your AI initiatives can deliver tangible returns and maintain human oversight through 2030.

Key insights

CEOs recognize AI's competitive necessity but face significant infrastructure, data, and security bottlenecks, shifting focus to foundational modernization and responsible deployment.

Principles

• AI adoption is essential for competitiveness.
• Infrastructure limits AI initiatives.
• Human oversight of AI systems is expected.

In practice

• Prioritize infrastructure modernization.
• Upskill teams for AI workloads.
• Strengthen AI governance frameworks.

Topics

• AI Investment
• Infrastructure Modernization
• AI Governance
• Data Management
• AI Readiness
• Executive Priorities

Best for: VP of Engineering/Data, Executive, CTO, Director of AI/ML

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Information and Enterprise Technology News | CIO Dive - Www.ciodive.com.