7 Career-Making AI Decisions for CIOs 

A Global Reality Check on AI Accountability, Performance, & Consequences From 600 Enterprise CIOs Worldwide

CIOs are no longer being measured by how fast they adopt AI, but rather by how they can defend outcomes, govern agents, justify spend, and prevent uncontrolled sprawl in their organizations.

Discover the seven AI decisions that will define CIO leadership in 2026 — based on a Dataiku/Harris Poll survey of 600 CIOs — as AI outcomes become something enterprises must explain, govern, and measure at scale.

 

60

say their job would be at high risk in a scenario where an “AI bubble” bursts. 

85

say explainability gaps have already delayed or stopped AI projects from reaching production.

74

regret at least one major AI vendor or platform selection made in the past 18 months.

92

have been asked at least once to defend AI outcomes they could not fully explain.

Download the 2026 Survey Report

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