CIOs must also serve as chief AI officers, according to Salesforce survey

The role of the CIO now is much more than delivering access to trustworthy, relevant, timely, and impactful information — these are table-stakes requirements. 

In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), chief information officers (CIO) must help stakeholders turbocharge their output. CIOs are now in the business of manufacturing intelligence and work-autonomous work. CIOs are now responsible for creating a work environment where humans and AI agents can collaborate and co-create stakeholder value — employees, customers, partners, and communities. CIOs must design, own, and deliver the roadmap to the autonomous enterprise, where autonomous work is maturing at Lightspeed. Maximizing enterprise performance with generative AI (gen AI) requires modernizing data foundations and measuring business outcomes.

Also: Think AI can solve all your business problems? Apple’s study shows otherwise

According to a new Salesforce survey of 150 verified CIOs of companies with 1,000 or more employees, the majority of CIOs (84%) believe AI is a game changer, yet only 11% have fully implemented AI systems in the workforce. 

Here are some key findings from the report: 

• Companies are looking for their CIOs to be AI experts. 61% of CIOs feel they’re expected to know more about AI than they do, and their peers at other companies are their top sources of information.
• CIOs agree that AI is a game changer but are cautious. While 84% believe AI will be as significant to businesses as the internet, 67% are taking a more cautious approach compared to other technologies. 
• IT is focusing on data initiatives before leaning into AI. CIOs report spending a median of 20% of their budgets on data infrastructure and management versus 5% on AI. Security or privacy threats and a lack of trusted data rank as CIOs’ biggest AI fears.
• Business partners must examine their AI timelines. 66% of CIOs believe they’ll see a return on investment (ROI) from AI investments, but 68% believe their line-of-business stakeholders have unreasonable expectations for when that ROI will occur.
• CIOs see a mismatch between departments when it comes to AI. While functions like customer service are seen as having the most AI use cases, they may be perceived as being the least prepared for the technology.

Here are my top 10 takeaways from the CIO survey on AI adoption in enterprises: 

1. Business support for AI is high, but the expectations for immediate ROI are higher. In fact, 77% of CIOs say they have good or excellent executive buy-in on AI’s value. Yet CIOs are concerned about their business partners’ urgency, with 68% believing there are unreasonable expectations of when they’ll see ROI from the technology. AI and enterprise software experts believe that early adopters are deploying AI agents in the enterprise now, with scaled adoption in 2025.
2. Lines of business outside of IT are more aggressive with AI adoption (this is what I call shadow AI). Just 11% of CIOs — with their greater technical expertise and broader view of the organization — say they’ve fully implemented AI — 18 to 38 percentage points less than their line of business counterparts. “The adoption of mass market generative AI tools by workers is ushering a new era of “shadow AI” that highlights the urgency of implementing trusted tools,” said Juan Perez, CIO of Salesforce. We know that 1 in 3 workers use AI multiple times a week — and they’re shouting about it. Research suggests that “maximalists” actively encourage laggards to use artificial intelligence. 
3. Every AI project is a data and security project. A survey found that 67% of CIOs are taking a more calculated approach to its implementation compared to other technologies. CIOs have no shortage of hurdles to consider when implementing AI, but those related to security and data are the most common. The top 5 CIO challenges: 1. Security and privacy threats, 2. Lack of trusted data, 3. Inability to identify the best use cases, 4. Training workers with required skills, 5. Insufficient return on investments. 
4. CIOs are spending 4X on data-related projects as compared to AI projects. The survey found that businesses must get their data in order before they fully embrace AI, CIOs are currently allocating, on average, four times more budget toward data initiatives. CIOs report spending a median of 20% of their budgets on data infrastructure and management versus 5% on AI.
5. CIOs are uncertain about how much to budget for AI projects. Only 47% are confident they’ve allocated the correct amount of budget to AI initiatives. To achieve decision dominance, CIOs must be AI advocates and champion scalable adoption across the entire business. 
6. CIOs struggle to identify where to prioritize AI. The top three best use cases for AI are customer service, marketing, and sales. The most enthusiasm for AI adoption is in the marketing, sales, and finance industries. Furthermore, the most ready for AI adoption are HR, finance, and sales. CIOs have competing interests and competing capabilities, making it difficult for IT to prioritize AI investments. 
7. CIOs are leveraging pilot projects to build AI advocacy throughout the business. The survey found that some CIOs are finding it more effective to launch pilot projects that showcase AI’s power to make the case for broader implementation. In fact, 75% of respondents describe their organizations as being in the experimental stage of AI adoption.
8. CIOs are learning about AI from their CIO network. CIOs are under pressure to quickly learn about, and implement, effective AI solutions in their businesses. While more than three of five CIOs think stakeholder expectations for their AI expertise are unrealistic, only 9% believe their peers are more knowledgeable. CIOs are also partnering with analyst firms (Gartner, Forrester, IDC, etc.) and technology vendors to learn more about AI. Agentic AI is the new electricity, and nearly 80% of business leaders are afraid of the dark. According to Gartner, by 2028, 33% of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI, up from less than 1% in 2024, enabling 15% of day-to-day work decisions to be made autonomously,
9. CIOs serve as chief AI officers. Sixty-one percent of CIOs feel they’re expected to know more about AI than they do, and their peers at other companies are their top sources of information.
10. CIOs must become better AI storytellers. In 1994, Steve Jobs said: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” There is no better time than now for CIOs to lead the business transformation towards becoming AI-led companies. 

Research shows that most businesses are increasing their investments in gen AI and business leaders care deeply about AI.  Scaling AI adoption in the enterprise must be a priority and CIOs are the most qualified business leaders to champion scale, speed, and optimization of AI adoption in business. CIOs who serve as chief AI officers are best suited to truly transform their companies and deliver real value at the speed of need.