- Almost all companies plan to increase their investments in AI next year
- Hybrid AI is popular to address privacy and regulatory concerns
- The biggest priorities for the coming year include AI PCs and agentic AI.
New data from Lenovo claims that we are in fact at the stage of widespread adoption of AI, where almost half (46%) of proofs of concept are already in production, and most (96%) of companies plan to further increase their investments in AI.
However, just over a quarter (27%) have a comprehensive governance framework in place, suggesting investments are not being looked at holistically, which could spell disaster given the potential scale of the outlook, with some CIOs predicting a return on investment of up to 179%.
And it’s not just poor governance that could pose obstacles: poor data quality, legacy systems and skills shortages all threaten to prevent businesses from realizing the full benefits of AI.
CIOs predict huge ROI from AI, but they’re not ready. What’s next?
Organizations have long been aware of the obstacles, with countless other studies highlighting the same factors, but only now are we starting to see companies defining the framework to address the challenges and hybrid AI is emerging as a favorite in 62% of cases.
Issues of privacy and data sovereignty, security and regulatory compliance, and the flexibility to optimize infrastructure in the cloud, on-premises, and at the edge are all addressed with this approach, Lenovo notes.
Looking ahead, CIOs see local inference as key to improving productivity, reducing latency and strengthening security, with AI PC deployment becoming the number one priority for IT investments in 2026.
Moving from generative to agentic AI is also another goal for 2026, with only one in five (21%) CIOs using agentic AI at scale today.
“As AI priorities shift toward agentic AI, the next phase will not reward experimentation – it will reward those who are able to operationalize AI in hybrid environments with built-in trust and scalability,” summarized Ken Wong, president of Lenovo Solutions & Services Group.
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