89% of CIOs say they're now more responsible for workforce redesign than core IT infrastructure

Thoughtworks' survey of 3,200 CIOs finds no dominant model for enterprise AI leadership, while Singapore CIOs report a more distributed approach to AI decision-making

SINGAPORE and CHICAGO, 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) globally agree they are now more responsible for redesigning workforce workflows and labor models than for managing core IT infrastructure. In Singapore, 84% of CIOs agree their role has similarly expanded beyond core IT into workforce workflows and labour models.

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.

That broader responsibility comes as organizations are still working through how enterprise AI should be governed. Almost nine in 10 CIOs (88%) report that AI adoption within their organization 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 Singapore, 80% say AI adoption is happening faster than governance structures can adapt. While 36% describe their organisation as very prepared to govern AI consistently across business functions, a further 58% say they are somewhat prepared. Singapore also reports lower visibility into AI tools or workflows adopted independently by business units: 78% report full or high visibility, compared with 89% globally, while a further 21% report moderate visibility.

"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%).

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.

"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 Singapore, 80% agree central IT would still ultimately be held responsible for failures caused by independently purchased AI tools. 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%).

The lack of a single operating model extends to enterprise AI leadership. Seventy percent of organizations 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 centralized 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 organizational friction or unclear boundaries. In Singapore, 77% report that their organisation has already hired a CAIO, while 23% describe the CIO/CAIO relationship as a source of 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 organizations are taking different approaches to how leadership responsibility should be divided. Singapore's findings reinforce this picture: CIOs report lower levels of strong preparedness than many other markets, while capability-building remains a prominent part of the response, with 30% selecting upskilling technology staff and 20% upskilling the wider workforce among actions taken or planned.

"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: [email protected]

SOURCE Thoughtworks