AI is changing what technology leaders in companies prioritize. Aligning IT strategy with business goals has become the top priority for CIOs, ahead of even cybersecurity. That’s the finding in the CIO Outlook 2026 report by Experis, based on a survey of 1,930 CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and other technology leaders from 12 countries conducted between January 28 and March 4, 2026.
The new CIO role in 20 seconds
- 48% call alignment between technology and business a priority, up from 34% in 2025.
- 54% say their AI investments are already generating positive returns.
- 44% cite the pace of technological change as their main barrier.
- Cybersecurity, AI, and cloud computing are the most in-demand technical skills.
- 81% see digital sovereignty as a priority, even as reliance on offshore and nearshore services grows.
This shift doesn’t mean cybersecurity worries have eased. It still draws investment and remains one of the top skills IT leaders look for. What’s changing is the expectation of the CIO: maintaining infrastructure, protecting systems, or running tech projects is no longer enough. Every investment has to connect to results you can explain to the rest of the leadership team.
AI is speeding up that change. Companies have moved from experimenting with pilots to weighing how much money they generate, how much they save, and which processes can really change.
AI enters the phase where results have to be shown
The most telling statistic in the report is probably about the return on AI investments.
54% of technology decision-makers say they’ve already gotten positive returns from their AI investments. At the same time, 51% think their current investment level is right, 31% think organizations are spending too much, and 18% haven’t settled on a clear position.
There’s also an apparent contradiction: only 17% see delivering AI solutions as one of the CIO’s main responsibilities.
The explanation is in how the technology is spreading through organizations. AI is moving from isolated projects inside the tech department into customer service, operations, software development, data analysis, and automation.
Six in ten respondents are already putting AI technologies into their current systems. 34% point to automation and AI-based solutions, including chatbots and robotic process automation (RPA), as the technologies with the highest returns in production.
Traditional infrastructure still carries a lot of weight, though. 41% still view cloud computing and scalable digital infrastructure as the main drivers of return on investment.
So AI isn’t replacing existing tech priorities; it’s adding new workloads, integration needs, and expectations for infrastructure that can support them.
The main challenge is now keeping up with technology
The speed at which new technologies appear is creating trouble inside companies.
44% of tech leaders name keeping up with change as their top business barrier, ten points higher than the 34% recorded in 2025.
The geographic differences are large. Per the report’s chart, the concern reaches 63% in Israel, 57% in Sweden, and 56% in both Switzerland and Norway. Spain comes in at 43%, close to the global average.
Other issues include justifying the value of tech initiatives, cited by 26%; managing internal resistance, at 25%; dealing with legacy systems and cybersecurity incidents, both at 22%.
That mix helps explain part of the CIO’s transformation. Tech leaders have to understand new tools but also decide which ones make sense for the organization and which are just costly projects without enough results.
The pressure grows because the role isn’t always well understood at the executive level. 61% of tech leaders think other senior executives don’t grasp the CIO’s role and responsibilities well enough, up from 49% in 2025.
Cybersecurity, AI, and cloud drive demand for professionals
The rise of AI, per the study, isn’t leading to a broad disappearance of traditional tech roles.
Experis notes that AI-related staff reductions have fallen since 2025. Companies are mostly choosing to add AI skills to existing roles, combine technical expertise with a more strategic view, and make certain profiles more versatile.
Human oversight stays part of the model.
The challenge is finding professionals with the right skills. Cybersecurity comes out as the most in-demand tech skill, cited by 46% of respondents. It’s followed by artificial intelligence and machine learning at 37%, and cloud computing at 31%.
Next come collaboration and teamwork, and software development, both at 22%, DevOps at 20%, adaptability and continuous learning at 17%, and problem-solving at 16%.
Those percentages also show demand isn’t limited to specialists who can build AI models. Organizations need to protect systems, integrate them, run AI on suitable infrastructure, and find people who can work across different areas.
The digital sovereignty paradox
The report flags another relevant tension for tech departments.
81% of IT leaders call digital sovereignty a high priority, meaning the ability to keep control over data, infrastructure, hardware, and software.
Yet 67% expect to lean more on offshore or nearshore services in 2026.
Companies want more control over their technology and data but at the same time need access to professionals, infrastructure, and services outside their immediate environment. Balancing those isn’t always easy.
Security stays a budget concern. 72% say their risk strategy lines up with cybersecurity readiness, down from 77% in 2025. And 72% run regular security training, against 74% before.
The message of CIO Outlook 2026 is less technological than an AI-driven report might suggest. The challenge is no longer just getting access to AI, cloud, automation, or new platforms, but making those investments work inside real companies and produce measurable results.
That pushes CIOs toward a space closer to the business side. Deciding what technology to buy is still part of the role. Explaining why it’s bought, what problem it solves, how it’s integrated, and what return it produces is becoming just as important.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the main priority for CIOs in 2026?
Per Experis, 48% see the CIO’s main contribution as aligning technology strategy with business goals. In 2025, that figure was 34%.
Are companies getting ROI from their AI investments?
54% of surveyed tech leaders say their AI investments are already producing positive returns, though 31% think they’re currently investing too much.
Which tech profiles are most in demand?
Cybersecurity leads at 46%, followed by AI and machine learning at 37%, and cloud computing at 31%.
What worries Spanish CIOs the most?
The report says 43% of Spanish tech leaders see keeping pace with technological change as one of their main challenges.
via: CIO Outlook 2026