Atera Research Reveals the New CIO Mandate: Leading Enterprise IT with AI

The Leading Enterprise IT with AI report reveals how AI is reshaping the IT role from support and service to strategic value driver

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Atera, the #1 AI platform for IT management, today released its Leading Enterprise IT with AI report based on a survey of over 1,000 CIOs and VPs of IT at U.S. enterprise organizations. The research reveals a new CIO mandate for an AI-empowered IT industry: to lead enterprise transformation.

"AI may be transforming operations, but it's IT leaders who are transforming the enterprise," said Gil Pekelman, CEO of Atera. "The data is clear: AI agents have unlocked an entirely new reality, one where they are capable of anticipating, learning, and taking actions autonomously. The CIO mandate is now to lead enterprise IT with AI—driving measurable business value across the organization."

AI is rewriting the CIO playbook.

Artificial intelligence has redefined what it means to lead in IT, with a whopping 63% of IT leaders reporting their roles have evolved due to advances in AI. No longer measured solely by system uptime or ticket resolution, today's IT leaders are increasingly responsible for driving business value. Nearly half (49%) cite business value leadership—shaping strategy and translating AI into revenue and growth—as the top area of increased importance, and 47% point to orchestrating human-AI collaboration as a key change in their roles.

But this evolution isn't just about redefining leadership titles—it's visible in day-to-day operations. The same AI capabilities driving strategic change are also reshaping the foundation of IT work itself. The benefits of AI are tangible. A whopping 74% said nearly half (at least 41%) of their Tier-1 support tasks (repetitive troubleshooting or routine requests) could be reduced by implementing autonomous AI agents. As AI elevates support, routing, diagnostics, and knowledge-sharing, that lost time is being recaptured, unlocking measurable enterprise-wide gains.

The value of AI extends far beyond IT.

The CIO's mandate now extends far beyond IT. IT leaders surveyed say their strategic decision-making scope now includes customer experience (41%), human resources (41%), finance (39%), ethics & compliance (39%), and operations (38%). These shifts underscore how AI is turning IT from a cost center into a catalyst for enterprise-wide value creation. CIOs are positioned at the center of business strategy, responsible for ensuring that AI delivers measurable outcomes across the organization.

AI's influence is also no longer limited to IT departments. The report finds that 71% of IT leaders say AI is now embedded in non-IT departments such as HR, operations, and finance. This widespread adoption is driving measurable improvements across the business: nearly all respondents rated operational efficiency (91%), employee productivity (91%), customer & stakeholder impact (92%), business growth (92%), and governance and resilience (90%) as at least somewhat important to their role. 

Ultimately, IT is now the connective tissue linking different business functions, enabling better alignment between technology and strategy and redefining how work gets done.

Ownership and execution remain challenges.

Despite growing adoption, only 12% of IT leaders say AI ownership in their organization is "very clear and fully standardized," while 37% describe it as somewhat or very unclear.  Among organizations with well-defined ownership, responsibility most often sits with IT/technology (42%), but respondents also cited finance, legal/compliance, HR, and cybersecurity, reflecting how AI now touches nearly every business function. This lack of clarity leads to a patchwork of oversight, with multiple teams pursuing their own initiatives—often without coordination or shared goals.

Execution is another major barrier, with 67% reporting that managing cross-functional initiatives while maintaining core operations is moderately to extremely challenging. Many organizations have the vision for AI-driven transformation but lack the structure, resources, or simplicity needed to move from pilot projects to scalable deployment. 

As the CIO mandate continues to evolve, organizations that embrace IT leadership, foster cross-functional collaboration, and establish clear ownership will be best positioned to unlock the full value of AI. Atera is at the forefront of this transformation, empowering IT leaders to realize the new mandate through its AI agents. In fact, Atera achieved 500% sales growth of its patented AI agents, AI Copilot, a technician-facing assistant, and IT Autopilot, an end-user self-service agent for autonomous resolution, in 2025 alone.

To see these innovations in action, visit Atera at Microsoft Ignite (booth #5432) to experience hands-on demos, or attend the IT Autopilot speaking session on Wednesday, November 19th at 1pm. 

Download the Leading Enterprise IT with AI report to see the latest enterprise trends in AI adoption, IT leadership evolution, and cross-functional governance.

About the Leading Enterprise IT with AI report: Research conducted by Censuswide among 1,049 VPs of IT and CIOs at U.S. enterprise organizations (1,000+ employees), aged 21 and older. Data collected between October 24 and November 3, 2025. Censuswide follows MRS code of conduct, ESOMAR principles, and is a member of the British Polling Council.

About Atera: Atera is leading the future of IT with the world's first Autonomous IT platform, with a built-in, always-learning fleet of patented AI agents. At its core is IT Autopilot; an autonomous, context-aware AI agent that functions as a personal IT professional for every employee, and AI Copilot, an IT technician's companion designed to boost productivity and efficiency. The full-stack platform unifies RMM, ticketing, help desk, patch management, and all essential IT operations into one secure, scalable solution. Trusted by more than 13,000 customers in 120+ countries, Atera helps organizations scale, boost service quality, and turn IT into a driver of lasting business growth.

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SOURCE Atera