• Only 13% of technology leaders surveyed feel fully prepared for the scale of AI agent deployment expected in the next 12 months, despite 75% reporting CEO driven transformation mandates
• 73% report that teams across the business are deploying technology faster than IT can track
• 83% of organisations surveyed report AI adoption is already outpacing governance capabilities
• A new blueprint for design, control and flexibility is required, as AI spend is expected to grow 67% in two years
Jun 8, 2026
LONDON, UK, June 8, 2026 — A new global study from the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value reveals that as organisations shift from AI experimentation to enterprise‑wide deployment, technology leaders face a widening gap between accountability and control. Only 13% of surveyed UK and Ireland technology leaders say they are fully prepared for the scale of AI agent deployment expected in the next 12 months, despite 75% reporting CEO‑driven transformation mandates.
Based on a global survey of 2,000 CIOs, CTOs and C‑suite technology executives, the research finds over six in ten (62%) of the 130 UKI respondents are accountable for outcomes in systems they do not fully control, and 73% report that teams across the business are deploying technology faster than IT can track. The research indicates that AI is scaling faster than the structures built to manage it, exposing new risks, accelerating strategic pressure and reshaping how enterprises must operate. 83% of executives agree that AI adoption is already outpacing current governance capabilities.
AI is now shaping strategy, not just executing it:
As AI adoption accelerates across the enterprise, executive leaders in the UKI are under increasing pressure to scale systems faster than governance can keep pace. By 2027, enterprises in the UKI expect to deploy an average of 1,601 AI agents—a 47% increase from today. As AI scales, the study finds that AI is no longer simply executing business strategy; it is increasingly defining what strategies are possible.
Security and compliance also remain obstacles to scaling AI agents, cited by 58% of the UKI technology leaders. UKI organisations experienced an average of 54 AI‑agent incidents last year, involving unintended or potentially harmful outcomes that required human correction. Of these incidents, 16% were high‑severity and took more than four hours to contain; 47% led to data exposure or security breaches; 12% triggered compliance issues; and 11% resulted in a loss of stakeholder trust.
In the UKI, AI spend is projected to grow from just under 14% of IT budgets in 2025 to nearly 23% by 2027, a 67% increase in two years, raising the stakes for technology leaders. Yet, 86% of technology leaders have not fully operationalised AI financial management, and 85% still lack real‑time visibility into AI spend. As AI investment increases, re-designing frameworks that support AI at scale become critical to maintaining control and driving performance.
Rhodri Arrowsmith, Managing Partner, UKI, IBM Consulting said:
“UKI organisations are moving into a new phase of AI adoption where speed is outpacing control, and leaders are being held accountable for systems that behave in increasingly autonomous ways. This research shows that traditional operating models can’t keep up and that governance, observability and control now need to be designed into AI from the foundation up.”
“The organisations pulling ahead are those building control‑centric, adaptable architectures that allow them to scale confidently to realise their business outcomes. Redesigning these frameworks isn’t optional anymore; it’s the only way to ensure AI expands successfully within a current enterprise strategy as opposed to against it.”
Cloud portability undermines AI ambitions
Despite widespread ambitions to build more flexible cloud strategies, most organisations remain limited by the rigidity of their existing architectures. As AI accelerates the need for rapid adaptation, these constraints are becoming more visible. Although 85% of the UKI organisations say they are attempting or planning to move workloads to another cloud provider, leaders report that only 26% of those workloads are easily portable, a signal that aspiration is outpacing operational reality. CIOs and CTOs cite innovation enablement (63%), cost optimisation (58%), and agility (58%) as the core drivers behind cloud migration, yet these goals depend on the very adaptability their current environments struggle to provide. As organisations prepare for the next wave of AI transformation, limited portability is no longer just a technical hurdle, it directly restricts their ability to control where and how AI can scale.
Further global analysis finds:
Globally, organisations that designed for adaptability early, keeping workloads portable and models replaceable, reported a 10% higher return on AI investment in 2025.
- Organisations that build control into their AI systems deploy 16x more AI agents than those relying on manual governance and deliver 18% higher operating margins
- spend 4x less of their AI budget
- Analysis shows organisations with strong financial discipline:
- deploy 2.4× more AI agents with no higher AI/IT budget
- are 3× more likely to say they’re fully prepared for AI scale
Against this backdrop, the data shows that organisations with control already built directly into their AI systems are pulling ahead: deploying more agents, operating more efficiently, and realising consistently stronger returns on their AI investments.
The IBM Institute for Business Value, in cooperation with Oxford Economics, surveyed 2,000 senior executives responsible for their organisation’s IT, technology, or AI-related decision-making across 33 geographies and 19 industries from January to April 2026. The survey was designed to gather insights on how organisations are managing the financial, operational, and governance challenges associated with scaling AI. Additional analysis was conducted to identify organisations that have built the structural capabilities to scale AI effectively by segmenting organisations based on preparedness and efficiency and assessing governance maturity.
The IBM Institute for Business Value, IBM’s thought leadership think tank, combines
global research and performance data with expertise from industry thinkers and leading academics to deliver insights that make business leaders smarter. For more world-class thought leadership, visit: www.ibm.com/ibv. To receive more insights, subscribe to the IdeaWatch newsletter: https://ibm.co/ibv-ideawatch.
About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more information.
Media Contact
Rebecca Butler
IBM UK External Communications
rebecca.butler@ibm.com
Executive Perspective:
“We don’t know who’s going to win or lose over the next five years. So we’re keeping AI models plug-and-play, ready to adapt if the landscape shifts.” – Dalton Gouws, CTO, Group IT Director, Board Member, VWG UK Ltd, United Kingdom
Analyst Perspective:
“Organisations that treat AI as a strategic capability rather than a series of isolated experiments are already seeing the benefits: stronger returns, higher operational resilience and far greater adaptability. IDC’s research indicates a strong, direct co-relation between AI governance maturity and overall AI success. The next two years will see the gap widen between those who proactively redesign their foundations for control and portability and those who remain constrained by legacy architectures.” – Archana Venkatramen, Senior Research Director, IDC
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