CIOs and CTOs are now responsible for artificial intelligence in well over 50% of organizations, according to new research from Dresner Advisory Services published August 18, 2026. The study, which gathered approximately 500 responses over the past three months, shows that as AI has grown more tightly linked to business outcomes, accountability is shifting away from chief data officers and analytics leaders toward CIOs and CTOs. Another 24% report that AI is managed by a business unit leader other than the CIO.
The report reveals that firms are beginning to see concrete financial returns: just over 9% have achieved ROI exceeding 50%, while 26% report ROI above 24%. In total, 58% say they've achieved ROI over 12%, with business gains split across reduced cycle time, lower costs, improved customer satisfaction, and reduced risk. Organizations that rated their business intelligence efforts as "completely successful" were most likely to report AI ROI over 50%. Investment levels reflect this success: approximately 14.5% of respondents say more than 25% of their tech spend now goes to AI, and 26% allocate between 16% and 25%. More than 52% of organizations primarily or entirely build their own AI capabilities rather than relying on vendor applications—18% develop proprietary or open source AI technology, 34% primarily develop their own while supplementing with vendor capabilities, and another 23% are evenly split between building and buying.
When it comes to strategic importance, 15% of respondents say AI is a cornerstone of their business strategy, and 48% call it a primary support to broader strategic goals. Motivations for AI investment vary: 51% see AI as addressing a specific business challenge or inefficiency, 26% view it as preparation for future industry disruption, and 10%—the "market followers"—focus on maintaining parity with competitors. The report finds that organizations with greater BI success tend to prioritize revenue growth, competitive advantage, and customer satisfaction, while those with less success lean more toward efficiency and cost savings. More than 50% of organizations now rate their AI maturity as advanced or intermediate, with 15% describing themselves as advanced and 36% as intermediate. Organizations remain cautious about AI agent autonomy today: 46% want agents to recommend only, 31% want them to execute with human approval, and just 9% are willing to let agents operate autonomously in defined domains. Within 24 months, however, the balance is expected to flip, with 55% expecting to allow agents to operate autonomously.
The report reinforces a connection between data maturity and AI success. While only 32% of enterprises have industrialized their data, those organizations report the strongest returns—28% achieve ROI above 50%, and 63% report ROI above 6%. The author argues that the preference for building AI capabilities reflects the growing importance organizations place on using AI for competitive differentiation rather than simply for efficiency. The report also notes that today's high returns may not persist over the medium term, as "low-hanging fruit" is exhausted and most implementations remain limited to third-party apps or "vibe coding." As Magesh Bagavathi, PepsiCo's senior vice president and global head of data, analytics, and AI, puts it in the report, CIOs and CTOs "need to act like they are running the business. This means focusing on end-to-end business transformation." The tighter coupling of AI leadership with operational technology roles suggests companies are treating AI less as an experimental function and more as core infrastructure that demands immediate accountability.