IBM study: 76% of organizations have a Chief AI Officer, CEOs expect 48% autonomous AI decisions by 2030

IBM Institute for Business Value today released the results of a survey of 2,000 CEOs from 33 countries and 21 industries, conducted in partnership with Oxford Economics between February and April 2026. The headline finding: AI is not only changing products and processes, but the structure of executive leadership itself. The share of organizations with a formal Chief AI Officer position rose from 26% in 2025 to 76% in 2026 — a threefold increase in a single year.

How is AI redefining the C-suite?

AI is redefining the C-suite by erasing the boundary between technological and operational roles. 85% of CEOs believe that all functional leaders must become technology experts in their own domain — not just the CIO or CTO. 59% expect the Chief Human Resources Officer to gain influence because reskilling has become a strategic rather than an HR problem.

The research describes the emergence of an “AI-first C-suite” design: organizations that simultaneously redesign five core business areas (operations, sales, finance, HR, IT) are four times more likely to achieve their goals. Companies with an AI-first structure scaled 10% more AI initiatives than the competition.

What do CEOs think about AI decision-making?

64% of CEOs are now comfortable making major strategic decisions based on AI recommendations, and 83% agree that AI sovereignty (their own models, their own data, their own policies) is critical to business strategy. The most dramatic number: by 2030, CEOs expect 48% of operational decisions to be automated without human intervention — nearly double the current 25%.

These are the CEOs’ own assessments, which lends weight to the projection: this is not a consultant forecast, but what the people who control budgets expect to happen.

The biggest gap: skills versus usage

The most interesting weakness is the gap between perception and practice. 86% of executives believe their employees have the necessary AI skills, but only 25% of employees regularly use AI in their work. This means companies are investing in licenses and tools, but not in actual adoption.

The study projects that in the 2026–2028 period, 29% of the workforce will need complete reskilling, and 53% will need skills upgrades for existing roles. That is over 80% of employees facing a change in job content within two years.

What does this mean for the European market?

While the study covers 33 countries, IBM’s audience is primarily global Fortune 1000. For the Croatian and regional market, the figures serve as a benchmark: if 76% of global companies have a CAIO position, local companies that still in 2026 lack a clear AI ownership line (CTO + IT director + everyone a little) are falling behind the average of their industries.

Gary Cohn, IBM Vice Chairman, summarized the finding: “AI is changing the speed and consequences of leadership.” Companies that grasp this are redesigning structure — those that merely add AI tools to existing processes are being left behind.