UK CIOs race to adopt AI but governance lags behind

UK chief information officers are pressing ahead with artificial intelligence projects, but many worry that governance, skills and operating models are not keeping pace, new research from Logicalis suggests.

Logicalis's annual CIO study found that 90% of UK CIOs reported an increased appetite for AI adoption over the past 12 months. However, 36% said the pace of AI adoption inside their organisations is "too fast". Globally, the figure rises to 51%.

Strategic alignment emerged as a key fault line. The survey found that 61% of UK CIOs said their organisation's AI strategy is not fully aligned with its overall business plan. That disconnect could leave technology teams responsible for decisions that sit outside traditional IT governance, including accountability for outcomes, regulatory exposure and investment discipline.

Another measure highlighted anxiety about the scale and speed of change. More than a third of CIOs said that, given the challenges AI presents, they wished AI had not been invented; 38% said this in the UK sample.

Governance gap

The research describes AI as moving from isolated experimentation into core business processes and warns of organisational strain when deployment outpaces governance. In those circumstances, CIOs can become the de facto owners of balancing innovation with accountability across the organisation.

Risk management is becoming a more prominent part of the role, alongside long-standing operational responsibilities. The findings also reflect an ongoing debate inside many organisations over what "responsible AI" means in practice and which teams hold decision rights.

AI initiatives can falter without stable operating models, Logicalis warned, increasing regulatory risk, causing operational disruption and leading to investment that does not translate into measurable returns.

Despite the concerns, CIOs also pointed to areas where AI is already producing results. Respondents ranked improvements to day-to-day service delivery as the leading impact, cited by 59% of UK CIOs.

Predictive analytics, forecasting and business insights followed at 57%, while enhancing customer experience came third at 48%.

Skills constraint

Shortages of people and expertise were among the most frequently cited barriers to adoption. The research found that 81% of UK CIOs said a lack of internal technical skill or talent is a barrier to AI adoption in their organisation. More than a quarter (27%) described it as a significant barrier.

The survey also distinguished between general technical capability and the specific knowledge needed for responsible AI use. It found that 63% said staff lack skills for responsible AI use, which respondents linked to compliance and reputational risks.

Logicalis Group chief executive Bob Bailkoski said the findings show strong intent but weaker foundations for execution.

"This year's report reveals a complex challenge for CIOs navigating the biggest innovation of our lifetime. Organisations are not short of ambition or appetite for AI; they are short of the frameworks, skills and confidence to deploy it at scale," said Bob Bailkoski, CEO, Logicalis Group.

He also pointed to shifting expectations for technology leaders as AI systems move into business-critical decision-making.

"The challenge right now is not whether to invest in AI, but how to build the foundations that will make that investment effective, safe and sustainable. Today's CIO is no longer just a technology operator; they are strategically coordinating risk, ensuring accountability and driving value creation throughout the entire organisation," Bailkoski said.

In the UK, Logicalis UKI chief executive Neil Eke described an environment shaped by speed and competing priorities, with technology leaders expected to deliver rapid results while managing expanding risk profiles.

"CIOs are navigating a landscape defined by acceleration, fragmentation and rising expectations. They are being asked to move faster, deliver more value, and assume greater responsibility, often before the organisational foundation needed to support that responsibility is fully in place. For CIOs, the real work now is not proving what AI can do, but making it reliable enough to be scaled with confidence to deliver a net business benefit," said Neil Eke, UK CEO, Logicalis UKI.

The report groups its findings into four themes: setting the agenda, moving from confidence to capability, managing security in the AI era, and what it calls the next frontier. The results highlight a consistent tension between high ambition and weaker confidence in governance, scalability and long-term control.

"What this latest research reveals isn't hesitation, but realism. CIOs must now focus on building governance frameworks that evolve alongside AI deployment, ensuring innovation does not outpace operational resilience," Eke said.

The survey was carried out by Vanson Bourne among 1,000 business and IT professionals across EMEA, Asia-Pacific, the US and South America. It focused on decision-makers at organisations with at least 250 employees who are involved in implementing AI.