Gartner: only 13% of CIOs see significant value from AI so far

A Gartner survey of more than 2,000 IT leaders, released at its IT Symposium in Orlando, found only 13% have seen significant or transformational value from…

October 19, 2026 · Work

A Gartner survey of more than 2,000 IT leaders, released at its IT Symposium in Orlando, found only 13% have seen significant or transformational value from AI, even though AI spending has grown 18-fold in two years. Only 21% have rules in place for AI agents, while 71% plan to use agents within a year. Gartner’s advice: decide what business result you want before spending more, and put governance in place early. One example it gave: Ikea retrained 8,500 call centre workers to sell interior design as chatbots took routine calls.

Why it matters to you: Buying AI is easy; getting results from it is not. The organisations that win are the ones that pick a clear goal and change how work is done, not the ones that spend the most.

Try this: Before you buy another AI tool, write down what it should change.

I run [type of business or team]. Help me pick one task where AI could save the most time, define how I would measure success in 30 days, and list the risks I should check before rolling it out.

Source: InformationWeek

More from Today in AI

All of Today in AI. Where AI is heading.

Related Power of AI pages

Keep reading with Start here, everyday uses, the tool guide, the writing workshop, and sources and standards.