Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as the defining technology for CIOs across the globe. A new study by Lenovo reveals that 80% of CIOs see significant business impact from AI, making it a rival priority to cybersecurity. However, barriers like deployment speed, security concerns, and organizational readiness threaten to slow AI's transformative potential.

"After years of IT expanding into non-traditional responsibilities, we’re now seeing how AI is forcing CIOs back to their core mandate,”  said Ken Wong, President of Lenovo's Solutions and Services Group. The pressure to demonstrate the business value of AI investments is forcing CIOs to re-focus on core IT functions.

The study found that 84% of CIOs are now evaluated primarily on driving business outcomes. This underscores the urgency with which they view AI adoption – a sentiment shared by 80% of CIOs who believe AI will significantly impact their business.

While optimism is high, the path to successful AI deployment isn't without its hurdles. CIOs cite speed of adoption and security as the top barriers to scaling AI. Moreover, many areas within their organisations – from product development to supply chains – lack sufficient AI readiness, impacting speed to deployment.

The challenge of measuring return on investment (ROI) persists, with 61% of CIOs finding it difficult to quantify the benefits of their technology investments.

Sustainability remains a CIO priority, but 38% admit it's being deprioritized to accommodate the resources needed for AI.  Despite this trade-off, 78% of CIOs believe AI will ultimately be a net positive for achieving IT sustainability goals.

CIOs face potential financial and human resource constraints as AI continues to scale. Nearly 90% of CIOs recognise the growing importance of human expertise alongside AI. Yet, tight budgets might make it difficult to recruit the necessary talent.