Austin, Texas, USA, May 16, 2025
Futurum Releases New Research Showing CEOs and CTOs Leading AI Decision-Making at 44.5% Combined, Signaling a Strategic Shift From Technical Implementation to Business Transformation Focus
Nearly half of all AI decisions now flow through C-suite executives, with CEOs (22.8%) and CTOs (21.7%) commanding the largest share of AI decision-making authority, according to new research from Futurum’s Decision Maker Survey of 876 top executives. The findings reveal a fundamental shift in AI governance, with traditional technology roles like CIOs (14.4%) playing a smaller but still significant role in the evolving AI leadership landscape.
Figure 1: Top AI Decision Makers in Enterprise Organizations
Nick Patience, VP & AI Practice Lead at Futurum, said, “The concentration of AI decision-making at the CEO and CTO levels demonstrates that organizations now view AI as a strategic business imperative rather than just a technological capability. This executive-level ownership is critical for driving the enterprise-wide transformation we’re seeing across industries.”
The research reveals several key insights about AI decision-making hierarchy:
- C-Suite Dominance: Combined C-level executives (CEO, CTO, CIO, CDO, CISO, CFO, CLO, CRO) account for 76.7% of all AI decisions, indicating high-level strategic importance.
- Business-Technology Partnership: CEOs leading at 22.8% while CTOs closely follow at 21.7% shows balanced business-technology collaboration in AI strategy.
- Specialized AI Leadership Emerging: 8.7% of decisions now flow through dedicated AI/ML leaders, representing growing recognition of AI as a distinct discipline requiring specialized expertise.
- Enterprise Function Integration: Business unit leaders (6.6%) and operational roles show AI is becoming embedded across organizational functions, not confined to IT departments.
“This distribution reflects the maturation of AI from experimental technology to core business strategy,” noted Patience. “When CEOs make nearly a quarter of AI decisions, it signals that artificial intelligence has moved from the server room to the boardroom as a primary driver of competitive advantage.”
The survey reveals how AI governance has evolved beyond traditional IT structures. While CIOs maintain substantial influence at 14.4%, the emergence of specialized AI roles and the strong CEO involvement indicate organizations are developing new decision-making frameworks specifically designed for AI initiatives.
The findings suggest a sophisticated approach to AI governance, with technical expertise (CTO, CIO, AI leads) balanced against business strategy (CEO, business unit leaders) and governance concerns (legal, risk, financial oversight). This multi-faceted decision-making structure reflects the complex nature of AI implementation in enterprise environments.
Read more in the “2H 2024 AI Software & Tools Decision Maker Survey Report,” available to subscribers on the Futurum Intelligence Platform.
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Author Information
Nick is VP and Practice Lead for AI at The Futurum Group. Nick is a thought leader on the development, deployment and adoption of AI - an area he has been researching for 25 years. Prior to Futurum, Nick was a Managing Analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence, with responsibility for 451 Research’s coverage of Data, AI, Analytics, Information Security and Risk. Nick became part of S&P Global through its 2019 acquisition of 451 Research, a pioneering analyst firm Nick co-founded in 1999. He is a sought-after speaker and advisor, known for his expertise in the drivers of AI adoption, industry use cases, and the infrastructure behind its development and deployment. Nick also spent three years as a product marketing lead at Recommind (now part of OpenText), a machine learning-driven eDiscovery software company. Nick is based in London.
