Only 44% of CIOs are deemed by their CEOs to be “AI-savvy” according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey of 456 CEOs and other senior business executives worldwide was conducted from June to November 2024 and measured CEO’s perceptions of the c-suite.
The survey revealed that 77% of CEOs believe AI is ushering in a new business era, yet they feel their organization’s leading technology experts lack the knowledge and capabilities to support, drive, or accelerate business outcomes in this evolving landscape.
“We have never seen such a disproportionate gap in CEOs’ impressions about technological disruption,” said David Furlonger, Distinguished VP Analyst and Gartner Fellow. “AI is not just an incremental change from digital business. AI is a step change in how business and society work. A significant implication is that, if savviness across the C-suite is not rapidly improved, competitiveness will suffer, and corporate survival will be at stake.”
CEOs perceived even the CIO, chief information security officer (CISO), and chief data officer (CDO) as lacking AI savviness. CEOs’ concern about the technology savviness of their C-suite is not new. The 2019-2020 Gartner CEO survey showed that CEOs’ assessment of their executives’ technology savviness required for the digital era was suboptimal (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: CEOs’ Perceptions of C-Suite’s AI Savviness (2025 to 2026) and Tech Savviness (2019 to 2020)
Source: Gartner (May 2025)
Limiting Factors Impacting AI’s Deployment
CEOs highlighted that the top two limiting factors impacting AI’s deployment and use are the inability to hire adequate numbers of skilled people and an inability to calculate value or outcomes.
“CEOs have shifted their view of AI from just a tool to a transformative way of working,” said Jennifer Carter, Principle Analyst at Gartner. “This change has highlighted the importance of upskilling. As leaders recognize AI’s potential and its impact on their organizations, they understand that success isn’t just about hiring new talent. Instead, it’s about equipping their current employees with the skills needed to seamlessly incorporate AI into everyday tasks.”
This focus on upskilling is a strategic response to AI’s evolving role in business, ensuring that the entire organization can adapt and thrive in this new paradigm. Sixty-six percent of CEOs said their business models are not fit for AI purposes, according to the survey. Executives must, therefore, build and improve AI savviness related to every mission-critical priority.
