Most CIOs now more responsible for workforce redesign than for core IT: survey

Recent research from technology consultancy Thoughtworks has found that 89% of chief information officers (CIOs) globally (87% in Australia) agree they are now more responsible for redesigning workforce workflows and labour models than for managing core IT infrastructure.

The study, based on a survey of 3200 CIOs across 10 countries, shows how far the CIO remit now extends beyond traditional technology management. As AI becomes embedded across the enterprise, technology leaders are being drawn more deeply into questions about how work is designed, where decisions sit and how responsibility is shared across the business.

This broader responsibility comes as organisations are still working through how enterprise AI should be governed. Almost 9 in 10 CIOs (88%) report that AI adoption within their organisation is happening faster than governance structures can adapt, while more than a third of CIOs (35%) also say they feel personally accountable for workforce disruption caused by AI adoption, despite not being able to fully influence the outcome. In Australia, 90% say AI adoption is happening faster than governance structures can adapt, while 35% report personal accountability for workforce disruption. Meanwhile, 44% describe their organisation as very prepared to govern AI consistently across business functions, with a further 54% saying somewhat prepared.

“AI governance is also a workforce design issue,” said Rachel Laycock, Chief Technology Officer at Thoughtworks. “As AI changes how work gets done, organisations need to rethink roles, workflows and decision rights so people know where human judgment is still essential and where AI can take on more of the work. Training matters, but it’s only one part of building an organisation that can use AI effectively at scale.”

Complicating matters, the survey also found that influence over AI decisions is distributed across the business. Globally, 23% identify the CEO as having the greatest influence, followed by central IT or technology leadership (21%), the executive leadership team (11%) and dedicated AI roles (10%). In Australia, central IT or technology leadership is the most frequently cited source of influence at 20%, followed by the CEO at 16% and the executive leadership team at 14%. AI budget ownership is similarly distributed, with no single model dominant.

“AI governance can’t sit apart from data governance or from the economics of AI use,” said Shayan Mohanty, Chief Data and AI Officer at Thoughtworks. “The person accountable for the data may not own the AI systems using it, while the people choosing those systems increasingly sit across the business. As adoption scales, organisations need the visibility and governance to understand where AI is creating value and where cost and risk are accumulating.”

The distribution of decision-making can also create accountability tensions. Nine in 10 CIOs (90%) believe central IT would still ultimately be held responsible for security breaches or compliance failures caused by AI tools purchased independently by business units. In Australia, 89% agree.

CIOs also report feeling personally accountable for outcomes they cannot fully influence, including security incidents involving AI systems (37%), data privacy breaches (35%) and brand or reputational damage from AI misuse (34%). In Australia, the figures are slightly higher at 38%, 37% and 35% respectively.

Taken together, the findings point to a CIO role that now extends well beyond technology infrastructure. Workforce design, distributed AI decision-making and enterprise governance now intersect, while organisations are taking different approaches to how leadership responsibility should be divided. In Australia, planned responses include embedding a dedicated technology lead within each business unit (55%), establishing a formal AI governance and operating model (48%) and standardising software and digital transformation across business units (38%), the highest country-level figure in the survey.

“Authority over AI is distributed, but accountability hasn’t always moved with it,” said Mike Sutcliff, CEO of Thoughtworks. “The answer isn’t to pull every decision back into central IT or put one executive in charge and assume the problem is solved. Organisations need clearer decision rights, and people need the skills and information to make good decisions as AI becomes part of how the business runs.”

The full report, ‘Thoughtworks Global CIO Survey 2026: Who governs enterprise AI?’, can be found here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Pattarapol Chainimit