Dive Brief:
- Full AI implementation has nearly quadrupled in the last 12 months, from just 11% in 2024 to 42% in 2025, according to Salesforce’s second annual CIO study, published Monday. AI is also driving a closer working relationship between CIOs and CEOs. Salesforce conducted an online survey of 200 global CIOs in collaboration with NewtonX for the study.
- AI agents in particular are demonstrating measurable impact, with 96% of CIOs reporting that their companies either use or plan to use agentic AI in the next two years. Executives also reported their AI budgets have nearly doubled, with CIOs dedicating 30% to agentic AI.
- “CIOs are turning AI ambition into action and scaling agentic AI in real, measurable ways,” Salesforce CIO Daniel Shmitt said in the report.
Dive Insight:
CIO confidence in their roles and AI knowledge has risen as the tech leaders move beyond experimentation and into scaling the technology across the enterprise.
A majority – 75% – of CIOs reported feeling more confident in their role now than they did in 2024, the Salesforce study found. Another 97% of CIOs said they know more about AI than last year.
“Embedding AI into the flow of work and building trust into every step helps everyone move faster and with more confidence,” Shmitt said.
CIOs also report working more closely with CEOs over other C-suite executives, with agentic AI propelling greater scope and importance for their role, according to the Salesforce report.
A new survey from Deloitte of more than 600 U.S.-based senior technology leaders echoed findings that CIOs are being recognized as enterprise leaders more broadly. The survey found that 80% have seen their roles significantly expanded and that 65% of CIOs are now reporting directly to the CEO, up from 41% a decade ago, according to Deloitte.
About two-thirds of CIOs reporting directly to a CEO said this leadership structure better positions them to improve business strategies and results, Deloitte said.
Agentic AI has also pushed CIOs to expand their skillsets, Salesforce found, with 61% reporting improvement in their leadership skills and 55% noting advancements in change management and communication. Another 57% saw better narrative-building skill sets.
As CIOs gain authority over AI agents, 65% said they’re working more closely with their customer service teams – an area CIOs ranked No. 1 for best agentic AI use cases, the study found.
