- Almost all companies plan to increase AI investments next year
- Hybrid AI is popular for addressing privacy and regulatory concerns
- The biggest priorities for the coming year include AI PCs and agent AI
New Lenovo data has claimed that we are indeed at the stage of widespread AI adoption, with nearly half (46%) of proof-of-concepts now already in production and most (96%) companies planning to increase AI investment further.
However, just over a quarter (27%) have a comprehensive governance framework in place, suggesting that investments are not being carefully looked at and this could spell disaster given the potential scale looking ahead with some CIOs projecting ROIs of up to 179%.
And it’s not just weak governance that can pose roadblocks – poor data quality, legacy systems and skills shortages all threaten to hold companies back from realizing the full benefits of AI.
CIOs predict huge AI ROI, but they’re not ready. What’s next?
Organizations have long been aware of the roadblocks with countless other studies highlighting the same factors, but it is only now that we are starting to see companies setting out the framework to tackle the challenges, with hybrid AI emerging as a favorite 62% of the time.
Concerns about data privacy and sovereignty, security and regulatory compliance, and the flexibility to optimize infrastructure across cloud, on-prem and edge are all tackled with this approach, Lenovo notes.
Looking ahead, CIOs see local inference as critical to improving productivity, reducing latency and improving security, with AI PC deployment emerging as the top IT investment priority in 2026.
Progressing from generative to agent AI is also another goal for 2026, with only one in five (21%) CIOs using agent AI at scale today.
“As AI priorities shift toward Agentic AI, the next phase will not reward experimentation—it will reward those able to operationalize AI across hybrid environments with trust and scale built in,” summarized Lenovo Solutions & Services Group President Ken Wong.
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