The world of artificial intelligence is changing at an unprecedented pace. According to a recent survey by BCG, global companies plan to double their AI investment this year, with an average of 1.7% of sales dedicated to the technology. This significant investment is not just a side bet, but a strategic decision that is now firmly rooted in the CEO’s agenda.
## A Shift in Leadership
Seventy-two percent of CEOs now call themselves the primary decision-maker for AI, roughly twice the share of last year. This shift in leadership is not just about who is making the decisions, but also about the level of accountability. Half of the CEOs surveyed say that the success or failure of their AI strategy is tied to their job stability. This is a stark contrast to the past, where AI was seen as a peripheral concern.
## A New Era of Confidence
The BCG survey also found that CEOs report higher confidence than any other executive group in their readiness to lead AI transformation and in their understanding of how their roles must change. This confidence is not limited to the CEOs themselves, as 76% of leaders in India, 73% in Greater China, and 70% in Japan report high confidence in AI outcomes. In contrast, many leaders in the US and UK are investing in AI to avoid falling behind their competitors rather than out of conviction.
## The Rise of Agentic AI
Agentic AI, or systems that operate with autonomy, has become the key variable in the AI landscape. About 90% of CEOs expect strong ROI from Agentic AI by 2026, and over 30% of total AI budgets are already flowing towards this technology. Leaders are allocating more than half of their AI spend to Agentic AI, and are focusing on the speed of organizational transformation rather than just tooling.
## The Unlocking Factor
What separates leaders from laggards is not tooling, but the speed of organizational transformation. AI leaders are allocating around 60% of their AI budgets to reskilling and upskilling, while laggards are spending only 24% and typical companies are allocating 27%. Capability building is the unlock that will take companies to the next level.
## What Executives Should Do Next
So, what should executives do next? First, they should set a CEO mandate by naming 3-5 business outcomes for AI and tying each to owners and deadlines. Next, they should rebalance their portfolio by keeping foundational hygiene funded, but shifting 30-50% of new spend into Agentic AI pilots that touch revenue or cost directly. They should also pick workflows, not demos, and design for control by including human-in-the-loop checkpoints and audit trails.
## A 90-Day Execution Plan
A 90-day execution plan is crucial to success. The first two weeks should be spent approving target workflows and a standardized guardrail pack. The next four weeks should be spent launching Agentic AI pilots with strict success criteria and starting baseline measurement. The following four weeks should be spent training cross-functional teams and shifting SMEs into product squads. The final three weeks should be spent scaling the winner to a second business unit and killing or fixing the rest.
## Metrics that Keep Everyone Honest
To ensure success, metrics that keep everyone honest are essential. These should include value metrics such as cost-out per workflow, cycle-time reduction, and revenue lift per rep or per visit. Adoption metrics such as % of tasks handled by agents, user satisfaction, and fallback rate to humans are also crucial. Risk metrics such as hallucination/exception rate, policy violations, and model drift alerts are critical, as well as capability metrics such as % of staff certified on AI tools relevant to their role.
## Upgrading Your Teams
The lead indicator of success is training penetration by role. If your budget mix looks like the leaders, with around 60% allocated to people, you’ll move faster with fewer surprises. For structured, role-based programs, see AI courses by job. The takeaway is that the tech is available, budgets are flowing, and CEOs are on the hook. The gap now is organizational speed, and it’s up to executives to close it without losing control.
