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- Three-quarters of companies now have CAIOs, up from one-quarter
- After rewiring the C-suite, middle managers are now a major focus
- Workers also need upskilling and reskilling
A new study of 2,000 global CEOs by IBM has claimed AI is forcing companies to redesign their C-suite structures, decision-making processes and general operating models as businesses become increasingly automated.
In 2025, only one-quarter (26%) of the companies surveyed had Chief AI Officers (CAIOs), but this year it has flipped, with three-quarters (76%) now claiming to have a CAIO in post.
Consequentially, those with an AI-first C-suite structure are said to have scaled 10% more AI initiatives than their counterparts, suggesting that rewiring the top plays an influential role in how successful a company becomes with its AI strategy.
Chief AI Officers and other AI roles are vital to AI success
Rewiring leadership is simple, though, compared with driving company-wide adoption. At the moment, it's believed that only 25% of employees currently use AI regularly at work, even though 86% of CEOs believe staff already have the right skills to bring AI into their workflows.
The next step after a C-suite shakeup is for middle managers to become technology experts int heir own areas, 85% of CEOs believe.
However, it's taken years of AI being in the spotlight for companies to make the relevant changes at the top, thus organization-wide transformations could be far more drawn out. CHROs will likely play a bigger role in the coming years as workforce shifts play out – between 2026 and 2028, 29% of employees are expected to need reskilling into different roles, and 53% are expected to need upskilling for their existing roles.
As for AI itself, CEOs predict AI making nearly half (48%) of operational decisions autonomously by 2030.
"The CEOs delivering real results from AI transformation aren’t just deploying AI faster, they’re redesigning their organizations to bring together the best people with the best technology," IBM Consulting SVP Mohamad Ali concluded.
IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn acknowledged that, while CEOs have always been tasked with "lead[ing] through disruption," AI has increased the "velocity and consequences of leadership."
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