According to research from management consultancy Kearney and analyst firm Futurum, big company CEOs are buying into AI hopes and dreams, with a dash of prudence
Management consultancy Kearney and analyst The Futurum Group have published research showing CEOs at high-revenue companies are putting artificial intelligence (AI) at the heart of their business strategies, and that European and North American respondents claim to have decent building blocks for AI programmes.
The report’s authors, three from Futurum and seven from Kearney, assert a need to “avoid inflated optimism”, and to maintain a focus on return on investment (ROI) and building a robust data foundations for AI efforts. They caution to “prioritise measured roll-outs over all-or-nothing leaps”.
They said their study, Are CEOs ready to seize AI’s potential?reveals a paradox that the most successful companies are those where top leadership deliberately steps back from hands-on AI strategy.
“Data shows that 92% of CEOs not seeing tangible AI results insist on leading AI strategy themselves, compared to only 59% in organisations achieving measurable success,” they said. “This gap suggests that centralised, top-down control can hamper domain-level expertise and hinder cross-functional collaboration
“Interviews further revealed that when the CEO remains a strategic guide rather than a hands-on manager, resource allocation and ROI measurement (49% vs 17% among unsuccessful peers) become more effectively embedded in everyday business practices.”
In 2024, the researchers surveyed 213 CEOs at companies exceeding $1bn in annual revenue. They interviewed 20 CEOs in November and December about AI governance, change management, integration and talent acquisition.
Some 28% of the survey respondents were from Europe, 32% in North America, 16% in Asia Pacific, 12% in Latin America, 6% in the Middle East and 6% in Africa.
AI investment a ‘necessity’
CEOs emerge from the study as buying into a belief in the necessity of investing in AI, despite a lack of push from customers.
“Many CEOs report minimal direct pressure from customers to adopt AI – only 24% cite explicit client requests for AI-based solutions – yet over half acknowledge feeling a strong internal imperative to prepare for AI-driven disruption,” the report notes. “This paradox emerged in interviews, where leaders stressed that waiting for external demands could leave their organisations behind the curve once consumer expectations shift, which they broadly expected them to do soon.”
One CEO, the report cites, at a global staffing firm with a European HQ, said: “In three years’ time, things will drastically change when it comes to the impact of AI. We know that in a few years, we won’t need people to do the job. It will be AI-driven.”
Some 89% of the CEOs surveyed agreed on the strategic importance of using AI for business transformation, yet only one in four of them feel fully prepared to integrate AI across their organisations.
Pedestrian applications
Companies are taking small, incremental steps this year, as they experiment with the inclusion of AI in business processesaccording to the report.
It cites the CEO of a North American financial services company: “We are starting with pedestrian applications like customer statement generation and regulatory processes.”
The report’s authors say: “The CEO of a global retail refrigeration solutions company emphasised the importance of test cases, stating, ‘2025 is our target year for significant AI investments, and we’re focusing on learning from small-scale experiences to inform broader applications’.”
From Europe, a clothing manufacturing company’s CEO indicated a long-term intention to use AI in its core activities. “We are outlining a long-term plan for AI, including innovation in fabric and machine development, which is a five-year goal,” they said.
However, according to the report’s authors, while most leaders see AI as a game-changer for operational efficiencies or cost reduction, few have fully mapped out how to leverage advanced capabilities for higher-impact use cases.
In the foreword to the report, Bill McDermott, chairman and CEO of ServiceNow, says: “In terms of human productivity, AI will unlock nearly one billion hours of productivity this year for ServiceNow’s customers alone.
“This is not a time for incrementalism,” he says. “It’s a time for exponential thinking and the courage to lead.”
And yet, the report seems to vindicate taking a circumspect and methodical approach to AI adoption.
“Data shows that organisations taking a measured, ‘fast-follower’ approach – 53% of the sample – achieve more consistent AI outcomes than those attempting immediate, large-scale roll-outs,” it says. “The discrepancy is especially pronounced in firms that struggled to produce results, 58% of which pursued highly aggressive adoption.
“Interviews confirm that rapid expansion often exposes data and cultural resistance before robust pilots can validate ROI. By contrast, methodical followers who fine-tune smaller AI deployments first report smoother scaling and higher confidence among stakeholders.”
The report shows some differences between regions. European respondents show a keen interest in specialised AI hiring (63%), particularly in sectors such as manufacturing and financial services, where, according to the authors, legacy processes require domain-specific expertise.
Some 77% of the European CEOs want advice on AI project management and implementation – the highest among the regions – suggesting, say the authors, “a desire to better understand how best to structure successful AI efforts”.
North American organisations report making more sustained progress in AI investments than other regions, with 72% focusing on workforce upskilling, 75% grappling with the availability of specialised talent, and 39% engaged in formal pilot projects.
Firms older than 10 years are focusing their AI efforts on established business goals such as customer satisfaction (76%) and supply chain resilience (42%). Younger outfits are training their AI projects more basically on revenue growth and cost reduction. Overall, 19% were focused on what the report’s authors characterise as “next-generation” AI innovation.
Ethical risks
Some 80% of CEOs view ethical risks – such as biased decision-making, privacy violations and accountability gaps – as significant barriers to AI adoption. Despite this, fewer than half report having a formal AI governance framework.
The CEO of a food, beverage and pharmaceutical equipment supplier based in Europe said: “We are not well-prepared for handling AI failures and ethical issues. Regular crisis management procedures are probably not sufficient for AI-related incidents.”
And while financial institutions commonly embed security reviews into every phase of AI deployment, according to the repot, industries like consumer packaged goods and media appear more exposed. Interviews done for the report suggest that “only half incorporate robust cyber security frameworks into AI roll-outs, leaving potential vulnerabilities unchecked. As AI permeates more functions, bridging that security-ethics gap may become a vital strategic step for boards and C-suite executives.”
Agentic AI on the CEO agenda
The next frontier in enterprise automation is “agentic AI” – AI systems that are capable of autonomous action and decision-making.
The Kearney and Futurum report found that most of the CEOs surveyed foresee agentic AI reshaping how business decisions are made rather than just automating processes. Indeed, an audit firm CEO believes AI will replace their entire core business.
