CEOs and IT chiefs missaligned on AI readiness

There appears to be a massive gap between expectations from business chiefs as to their organisations’ artificial intelligence (AI) readiness and what IT leaders believe is possible.

A survey of 1,100 organisations, commissioned by Kyndryl published in the company’s People readiness report 2025, has found that only 16% of the CEOs polled believe their technology infrastructure is inadequate to fully support AI technology compared with 42% of IT leaders.

Aligning AI technology strategies with broader business goals is the top action cited by leaders to leverage AI technology successfully in the workplace, yet the CEOs who took part in the survey were less aware of the challenges integrating AI and automation with existing systems. The survey found that 16% of CEO acknowledged that there are challenges compared to 37% of IT leaders.

Michael Bradshaw, global practice leader for applications, data and AI, said: “Only a small group of businesses have been able to harness AI successfully for business growth.”

The survey found that despite widespread attempts at implementation, most organisations are not currently benefiting from game-changing use cases that will drive new products and services for their customers.

Kim Basile, chief information officer at Kyndryl, said: “Aligning technology strategies with broader business goals is the top action leaders need to take to fully benefit from AI.”

Generative AI (GenAI) tools are the most popular use case reported by those surveyed, yet only a fifth of leaders report using AI-powered insights to enhance decision-making or unlock growth for their business. Just one-fifth of leaders said the primary use case of AI at their organisation is to develop new products and services for customers.

The survey also found that CEOs and tech executives have conflicting perceptions on how their employees are viewing AI adoption. Under half (45%) of the CEOs surveyed think their employees are embracing AI, compared with nearly three-quarters of tech leaders.

This disconnect between CEOs and CIOs/CTOs extends to how they view workforce readiness and how they think they can get their workforces ready. Tech executives are far more focused on upskilling their existing workforce in AI technology (80%), while over four in 10 CEOs are prioritising hiring external talent to get those skills.

The survey’s authors reported that uncertainty around how to address skills gaps and how to best prepare for future advancements in AI is inhibiting organisations. Roughly a third of the business leaders polled are not confident they know how to manage current skills gaps. A similar portion report their organisation does not understand the skills employees will need in the future.

According to Kyndryl, skills now have a rapidly shrinking shelf life as new technologies and business processes accelerate. The survey reported that business heads are concerned about the challenges their organisations face around training and upskilling.

In fact, 76% of the business leaders polled said that they are prioritising the reskilling their existing workforce to accommodate AI implementation rather than hiring new employees. However, less than 4 in 10 leaders said that they are taking employee-focused actions, such as hosting reskilling programmes, developing personalised coaching programs, or providing access to external certifications or courses specific to AI.