Forty-four per cent of CEOs struggle to demonstrate financial returns from artificial intelligence (AI) to stakeholders, even as technology becomes central to business strategy and growth, according to a Gartner survey.
The survey, conducted in April and May 2026 among 203 global CEOs and senior business executives, found that 75% of respondents plan to increase technology investment. Meanwhile, 62% identified revenue and business growth as a top strategic priority.
The findings indicate that businesses are continuing to invest in technology while facing challenges in translating AI adoption into measurable financial outcomes. Gartner said companies will need to rethink their operating models and business processes to generate greater returns from AI, rather than simply introducing the technology into existing workflows.
“The AI value problem will not be solved by simply adding more AI to existing ways of working,” said David Furlonger, distinguished vice-president analyst at Gartner. He said technology should give businesses greater flexibility to enter markets, reshape offerings, reconfigure operations and respond to disruption.
For chief information officers (CIOs), this means shifting the focus from deploying AI tools to redesigning how the enterprise creates value, Furlonger said.
Technology becomes central to business strategy
The survey found that 80% of CEOs believe technology has become strategy, placing technology decisions at the centre of discussions about business growth, competitiveness and organisational direction.
At the same time, business leaders expect continued disruption across economic and geopolitical conditions, as well as the adoption of AI.
According to the survey, 93% of CEOs expect economic volatility to have a high or medium impact on their strategic business objectives through 2027. Persistent conflict is expected to have a similar level of impact by 79% of respondents, while 77% expect AI industrialisation to affect their objectives.
However, the proportion of CEOs reporting high readiness for these disruptions was considerably lower. Only 24% reported high readiness for economic volatility, compared with 11% for persistent conflict and 20% for AI industrialisation.
Furlonger said technology should give enterprises the ability to change direction, pursue new sources of growth and respond to changing market conditions. He warned that CIOs who remain focused only on implementing technology decisions made elsewhere risk being excluded from discussions that increasingly shape competitive advantage.
Business redesign seen as key to AI returns
The survey suggests that CEOs expect changes to business operations to play a significant role in generating financial returns from AI.
Sixty-three per cent of respondents identified radical redesign of the operating model as a top strategic move to accelerate tangible financial returns from AI through 2027.
Meanwhile, 52% cited the aggressive deployment of AI agents as employees, while 47% pointed to unlocking or reallocating capital through significant business restructuring.
The findings highlight the emphasis business leaders are placing on changes to operating models, the use of AI agents and capital allocation as they seek to derive greater value from AI investments.
Furlonger said organisations could accelerate returns by redesigning their operations around new technological capabilities instead of adding AI to existing processes. He said AI needs to be incorporated into workflows, decision-making and the way businesses compete.
Gartner outlines priorities for CIOs
Gartner recommended that CIOs focus on three areas to help businesses meet their growth objectives and improve returns from AI.
The first is to redesign workflows around intelligence. Rather than using AI only to speed up existing tasks, organisations should prioritise investments that change how workflows operate, how decisions are made and how value is delivered.
The second is to build for strategic flexibility. Gartner said enterprises should develop modular technology architectures and reduce rigid dependencies so they can change direction, switch providers and scale new capabilities as business conditions evolve.
The third is to measure outcomes rather than AI activity. Gartner recommended establishing financial and operational measures to assess the impact of AI investments. These could include unit economics, decision-making speed, time to market, customer outcomes and broader business impact.
The research firm also said businesses should manage AI, digital labour and workforce redesign as parts of an integrated transformation.
The recommendations place the emphasis on connecting technology investment with changes in business operations and measurable outcomes. For CIOs, this involves working beyond technology deployment to help shape how organisations operate and pursue growth.
Gartner’s findings come as CEOs identify revenue growth as a leading strategic priority while expecting technology investment to rise. The survey suggests that demonstrating financial returns from AI remains a challenge for many business leaders, even as they increasingly view technology as central to enterprise strategy.