Only one in ten organizations is using AI at a level that fundamentally changes how they operate, and new research from Gate One and IDC suggests that division among senior leaders is a primary reason. The survey of 750 decision-makers across the UK, Ireland, France and the United States found that CEOs are most worried about workforce capability, while other people leaders focus their attention elsewhere-a misalignment that stalls value creation.
Misaligned priorities at the top
Thirty percent of CEOs said AI is evolving too fast to keep pace with, affecting their ability to plan and resource projects effectively. Workforce readiness and strategy followed closely, cited by 29% as their leading concern. Yet, across the broader leadership group, 29% rated leadership and effective line management as a more pressing issue than the talent and skills shortage that 28% flagged.
This gap points to a deeper problem: organizations often lack clearly defined targets. When leaders cannot agree on which problems to address first, AI investment can scale the problem rather than solve it. For those responsible for AI for Executives & Strategy, aligning on priorities is not a soft skill-it is the condition for any project to deliver on its promise.
Competing demands pull organizations in different directions
Growth (44%), efficiency (43%), and cost savings (38%) rank as the top three business priorities for the year ahead. But 39% of leaders say conflicting stakeholder demands make it hard to prioritize initiatives. The most common tensions sit between short-term financial performance and long-term transformation goals (63%), business expectations and current technology capabilities (50%), and risk or compliance requirements versus innovation ambitions (45%).
Deployment patterns: automation without redesign
Most organizations are deploying AI at scale, but not always wisely. Sixty-three percent use it to automate routine tasks, and 60% to optimize process speed. However, only 10% have made generative AI and AI agents a core part of how they operate and deliver value. Just one in three such initiatives meets or exceeds expectations.
The contrast with leading organizations is sharp. Those at an advanced stage of deployment use AI to support decision-making: 57% enhance operational decisions (versus a 46% average), and 47% optimize resource allocation and workforce planning (versus 40%). Critically, 84% of leaders prioritize end-to-end process redesign before deploying AI, compared with fewer than 40% of other organizations. This approach is a stronger marker of success than simply layering technology onto existing workflows. For AI for Management, the lesson is clear: strategic investment, not tactical quick fixes, separates leaders from laggards.
James Cooper, partner at Gate One, said: "Our assessment is clear: deploying AI onto processes never designed for the pace, flexibility or data quality modern transformation demands is not working. Automating a broken process doesn't drive efficiency, it simply scales inefficiency. Technology can accelerate transformation, but it won't fix misaligned leadership or weak foundations. The organisations pulling ahead are making clear choices on where to focus: accelerating performance by aligning leadership, prioritising what matters most and redesigning how work gets done to unlock sustainable value."
Why this matters for Executives and Strategy
The research confirms that AI success hinges less on the technology itself and more on the leadership decisions that precede it. Organizations that redesign processes from end to end before deploying AI, and that align leadership around a shared set of priorities, consistently outperform those that chase automation alone. For executives, the immediate step is not another pilot but a hard conversation about which problems are worth solving and whether the leadership team is truly aligned on the answer.
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