94 Percent of CIOs Increased AI Spending But Half Think Adoption Is Moving Too Fast

[IronQuarry]

The Logicalis Global CIO Report from March 2026, surveying over 1,000 CIOs worldwide, produces a set of numbers that sit in genuine tension with each other and that tension is the story. Ninety-four percent of organisations reported increased appetite for AI investment over the past year. Fifty-one percent simultaneously believe AI adoption is already moving too fast. Eighty-nine percent describe their current approach as learning as we go. Sixty-two percent have compromised on AI governance due to limited knowledge. Only 44 percent say they fully grasp the risks of the AI they have already deployed. Sixty-seven percent are concerned about an AI bubble.

The pattern this describes is not irrational exactly. The incentive structure pushes organisations toward deployment even when they know governance is lagging, because not deploying AI while competitors do has real costs. The 16 percent who say they lack continuity plans should a key AI provider become unavailable is a detail that looks different now than it did in March, after the Fable shutdown demonstrated exactly what that risk looks like in practice. An AI provider that disappears overnight due to a government order is precisely the scenario that 16 percent of organisations have no plan for.

Is learning as we go a reasonable approach given how fast the technology is moving, or is the governance gap a structural problem that will catch up with organisations in ways they are not prepared for?

[StormForge89]

Learning as we go is what every organisation says when they are deploying something faster than their governance can handle. It is honest at least. The question is what happens when the learning comes in the form of a significant incident