Thoughtworks’ survey of 3,200 CIOs finds no dominant model for enterprise AI leadership with Australian CIOs reporting a distributed approach to AI decision-making and budgets
SYDNEY, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — New global research from Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy that integrates design, engineering and AI to drive digital innovation, finds that 89% of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) 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 3,200 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. In Australia, 87% of CIOs agree they are now more responsible for redesigning workforce workflows and labour models than for managing core IT infrastructure, compared with 89% globally.
That broader responsibility comes as organisations are still working through how enterprise AI should be governed. Almost nine in 10 CIOs (88%) report that AI adoption within their organisation is happening faster than governance structures can adapt. 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, organizations 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 organization 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. Some 22% report that budgets are managed centrally by IT, 22% that responsibility is shared between IT and the business, 20% that budgets are controlled independently by business units, 19% that they are managed at executive or board level and 17% that the model is still evolving. In Australia, 22% say budgets are managed centrally by IT, 22% are controlled independently by business units, 20% are shared between IT and the business, 18% are managed at executive or board level and 18% say the model is still evolving.
“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, organizations need the visibility and governance to understand where AI is creating value and where cost and risk are accumulating.”
That 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 central IT would still ultimately be held responsible for these failures.
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, 38% cite security incidents involving AI systems, 37% data privacy breaches and 35% workforce disruption from AI adoption as outcomes for which they feel personally accountable without full authority to influence them.
The lack of a single operating model extends to enterprise AI leadership. Seventy percent of organisations surveyed have already hired a Chief AI Officer, with a further 26% looking to do so. But there is no clear consensus on how the role should work alongside the CIO: 36% say the CAIO acts as an extension of the CIO’s centralised strategy, while 35% say the role operates independently with equal or greater enterprise influence. Some 29% describe the CIO/CAIO relationship as a source of organisational friction or unclear boundaries. In Australia, 71% report that their organisation has already hired a CAIO and 22% are looking to hire one; among those describing the relationship, 36% say the CAIO acts as an extension of CIO/CTO strategy, 34% say the role operates independently with equal or greater enterprise influence and 29% cite friction or unclear boundaries.
“At Thoughtworks, our experience has been that AI transformation is a team sport, from defining enterprise AI strategy and architecture to embedding AI into internal platforms and day-to-day operations,” said Xia Jie Jessie, CIO of Thoughtworks. “The question isn’t who owns AI, but how leadership collaborates to create business value responsibly and at scale.”
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. Organizations 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?, explores how organizations are approaching enterprise AI governance, leadership, workforce capability and the changing role of the CIO.
About Thoughtworks
Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy that integrates design, engineering and AI to drive digital innovation. For over 30 years, Thoughtworks has helped organisations solve complex business problems with technology as the differentiator.
Methodology
The research featured in this report was conducted by Censuswide, in partnership with Thoughtworks, among a sample of 3,200 CIOs across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Singapore.
The data was collected between July 1 and July 10 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC) and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. They adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.
Media contact:
Michelle Surendran
Head of Public Relations for APAC and India
Email: michels@thoughtworks.com
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SOURCE Thoughtworks
