As AI Investments Surge, CEOs Take the Lead on Decision Making and Upskilling Themselves

• New BCG Report Shows Companies Plan to Double Their Spending on AI in 2026 and Remain Bullish on ROI
• 94% of Companies Plan to Continue Investing in AI Even if It Doesn't Drive Immediate Returns
• CEOs Are Now Driving AI Strategy, with 72% Saying They Are Main Decision Makers on AI
• Half of CEOs Believe Their Job Depends on Getting AI Right
• Four Out of Five CEOs Are More Optimistic About AI's ROI Potential Than They Were Last Year; 90% Believe AI Agents Will Produce Measurable Returns in 2026

BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Corporate AI investment is growing significantly and will not pull back, with companies planning to double their spending on the technology in 2026, accounting for about 1.7% of revenues, more than twice the increase for 2025. CEOs are rolling up their sleeves and taking the lead as their companies' main AI decision makers, with trailblazing chief executives now spending more than eight hours per week on their own AI upskilling and investing twice as much as their counterparts in upskilling and capability-building across their organizations.

"Despite economic uncertainty, this anticipated surge in spending reflects how much of a priority AI has become in the business world," said Christoph Schweizer, BCG's CEO and coauthor of the report. "AI is no longer confined to IT or innovation teams—it's reshaping strategy and operations from the top down with CEOs taking a leading role. Nearly three-quarters of CEOs say they are now the main decision makers on AI, and half believe their jobs depend on it."

These are among the findings of the third annual study of the state of the global AI landscape from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Titled, BCG AI Radar 2026: As AI Investments Surge, CEOs Take the Lead, the report is based on a survey of 2,360 executives across 16 markets and nine industries, including 640 CEOs.

While there are no real AI-deniers among CEOs, the survey findings reveal that three archetypes have emerged:

• Followers (~15%) recognize AI's potential but lack full conviction, making some early, cautious investments.
• Pragmatists (~70%) are excited and confident about AI, but only invest when they see evident value and low risk.
• Trailblazers (~15%) drive AI-powered transformation through decisive investment, rapid upskilling, and strong belief in AI's ROI.

Sixty percent of Trailblazing CEOs companies' AI budgets are allocated to upskilling and retraining their current workforce on the technology, compared to 27% and 24% for Pragmatists and Followers, respectively.

Trailblazers have also been earlier and more assertive in pursuing AI agents. They are directing more than half of their 2026 AI corporate investments to agents, and are about twice as likely as Followers to deploy agents end-to-end across a workstream or process.

Corporate AI Investment Will Double This Year

In doubling their investment this year, companies are drawing from budgets beyond the tech pool and CEOs have committed more than 30% of their organizations' AI investments on agentic AI. Ninety-four percent of chief executives say they will continue investing in AI at current or higher levels even if the investments do not pay off in the next year.

CEO confidence in AI is higher in the East than in the West. Roughly three-quarters of CEOs in India and Greater China are confident AI will pay off, compared with 44% in the UK, 52% in the US, and 61% in Europe. Conversely, a larger share of Western CEOs say their organizations are investing in AI to avoid falling behind or because they feel pressure.

Among the industries surveyed, all of them plan to increase their AI investments in 2026. At one end, financial institutions are at 2.0% of revenues, only marginally behind tech companies who plan to spend 2.1% of revenues on AI this year. At the other end, industrial companies and real estate firms plan on spending 0.8% of revenues on AI.

The survey points to a set of actions that will matter most as CEOs steer their organizations through the next phase of AI:

• Make AI your key priority. Position the organization to be the disruptor, not the disrupted.
• Deepen AI literacy. Expand individual AI fluency to effectively lead transformations.
• Commit investments at scale. Invest decisively across end-to-end business functions.
• Upskill the organization. Upskill the workforce to optimize productivity, creativity, and judgment.
• Expect measurable ROI from AI. Track AI's impact to drive sustainable ROI over time.

Nearly three-quarters of chief executives (72%) say that they are now the main decision makers on AI, twice the share as last year. And while half of CEOs believe their jobs are on the line if AI does not pay off, four out of five of them are more optimistic about AI's ROI potential than they were a year ago. The rapid maturity of AI agents is one of the main reasons, with about 90% of chief executives believing that agents will enable their companies to see measurable ROI in 2026. As a result, CEOs have committed more than 30% of their organization's AI investment for this year into agentic AI.

"CEOs have a defining role in shaping how AI delivers value," said Sylvain Duranton, coauthor and Global Leader of BCG X, the tech build and design division of BCG. "The true competitive advantage lies with those CEOs who will reshape functions end-to-end and invent new products and services that drive growth. The fact that nine out of ten CEOs tell us that by 2028 the measure of success for a company will be heavily tilted towards those that are able to get AI right reflects the significant change we are seeing in the market."

Download the publication here:
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/as-ai-investments-surge-ceos-take-the-lead

Media Contact:
Eric Gregoire
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SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)