IBM says a global study of technology leaders found that only 11% feel completely prepared for the expected scale of AI agent deployment, while organizations that build controls into AI systems report fewer incidents and stronger outcomes.
IBM said a new global study finds that CIOs and CTOs are underprepared for the pace and scale of enterprise AI agent deployment.
In a June 8 announcement, IBM said only 11% of surveyed technology leaders reported being “completely prepared” for the expected scale of AI agent deployment. The finding comes from IBM’s study, “Building the IT foundation for agentic AI at scale,” published by the IBM Institute for Business Value.
IBM framed the result as a widening “AI control gap” for enterprise technology executives. According to the IBM newsroom release and the related IBM Institute for Business Value report, the company argues that CIOs and CTOs need to shift from experimenting with AI tools toward building operating models that can support agentic AI at scale.
The PR Newswire version of IBM’s announcement reported the same headline finding, stating that only 11% of respondents said they were completely prepared for expected AI agent deployment scale and linking to IBM’s full global study.
IBM’s report says technology leaders need “structural readiness” for AI at scale. The IBM Institute for Business Value describes that readiness as a combination of infrastructure adaptability, governance by design, and portfolio discipline.
The study also links stronger outcomes to embedding control mechanisms directly into AI systems. IBM said organizations that build controls into AI deployments report fewer incidents and better results than those that treat oversight as a separate process.
That emphasis reflects a broader enterprise concern: as AI systems move from assisting individual workers to taking on more autonomous tasks, companies need ways to monitor performance, assign accountability, and reduce operational risk. IBM’s report specifically focuses on CIOs and CTOs because those roles often own the infrastructure, governance, and integration decisions that determine whether AI systems can be managed at scale.
The IBM Institute for Business Value report uses the term “agentic AI” to describe AI systems that can perform tasks with greater autonomy than earlier generations of enterprise AI tools. IBM’s argument is that these systems require more than model access or isolated pilots. They require resilient infrastructure, clear governance, and disciplined investment choices.
IBM said CIOs and CTOs should build systems that can adapt as AI workloads change. The report also calls for governance to be designed into AI environments from the beginning rather than added after deployment. In addition, IBM highlights portfolio discipline, meaning organizations should prioritize AI initiatives based on business value and risk rather than scaling every experiment at once.
The company’s findings suggest that many enterprises are still early in that transition. If only a small share of technology leaders feel fully prepared for the expected growth of AI agents, then deployment speed may be outpacing the management practices needed to control those systems.
IBM’s study is vendor-published research, so its conclusions should be read in that context. Still, the findings are notable because they focus less on whether companies are adopting AI and more on whether their technology organizations are ready to govern it.
For CIOs and CTOs, the report’s central message is that scaling AI agents is not just a software deployment challenge. IBM’s source documents describe it as an enterprise architecture, governance, and investment discipline challenge.
As businesses expand from AI pilots to broader deployments, IBM’s research suggests that the next bottleneck may not be access to AI models. It may be the ability to control, measure, and govern AI systems once they are embedded in core operations.
IBM said a new global study finds that CIOs and CTOs are underprepared for the pace and scale of enterprise AI agent deployment.
IBM points to a readiness gap In a June 8 announcement, IBM said only 11% of surveyed technology leaders reported being “completely prepared” for the expected scale of AI agent deployment.
The finding comes from IBM’s study, “Building the IT foundation for agentic AI at scale,” published by the IBM Institute for Business Value.
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