The AI Playbook: A 12-Step Framework to Scale AI With Governance and Measurable Outcomes, By Info-Tech Research Group

Despite rapid growth in AI experimentation, most organizations remain unable to operationalize AI at scale or demonstrate sustained business value. Data from Info-Tech Research Group shows that fragmented strategies, weak governance, and poor execution discipline continue to stall progress. The global research and advisory firm's newly published resource, The AI Playbook: 12 Steps to Systematically Achieve AI Excellence, provides a structured, year-long methodology to help IT leaders turn AI from isolated initiatives into a repeatable enterprise capability.

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Artificial intelligence adoption is accelerating across industries, but execution maturity is lagging behind ambition. Info-Tech Research Group's Future of IT Survey data shows that 92% of organizations lack a corporate-wide, up-to-date AI strategy, leaving many AI efforts disconnected from enterprise priorities and difficult to scale. To address this gap, the global IT research and advisory firm has released The AI Playbook: 12 Steps to Systematically Achieve AI Excellence, a strategic framework designed to help CIOs and IT leaders govern, deliver, and measure AI outcomes systematically throughout the year.

Info-Tech's research insights indicate that AI programs most often stall because organizations attempt to scale AI without the operational foundations required to support it, rather than technological limitations. Many teams remain trapped in extended pilot cycles, experimenting with tools and use cases without clear ownership, architectural discipline, or value measurement. This pattern, which the firm describes as "pilot purgatory," prevents organizations from translating AI investment into sustained business impact.

"AI success is not about chasing the latest model or tool," says Info-Tech Research Group's Vice President of AI Research, Robert Garmaise. "Organizations that scale AI successfully treat it as an operating capability, not a side project. That requires clear governance, realistic expectations, and a repeatable execution model that leaders can sustain year over year."

Key Barriers Preventing AI From Delivering Enterprise Value at Scale

Drawing on Info-Tech's AI research and advisory experience, the AI Playbook highlights several systemic barriers that consistently prevent organizations from scaling AI and realizing enterprise value, including:

• Unrealistic expectations and unclear ownership that create misalignment across executives, IT, and business stakeholders, making it challenging to prioritize use cases and sustain support once early experimentation ends.
• Lofty ambitions without strong problem statements that lead to scattered proofs of concept, weak adoption, and minimal linkage to measurable business outcomes.
• Costly AI and data skill gaps that slow delivery, limit internal capability-building, and increase dependence on vendors without improving long-term execution maturity.
• Immature governance and guardrails that leave organizations exposed to security, privacy, ethical, and regulatory risk, especially as AI moves into customer-facing and high-impact workflows.
• Unprepared foundations in data and operations that produce unreliable outputs, inconsistent performance, and operational chaos when teams attempt to scale beyond small pilots.
• Minimal architectural discipline that causes AI solutions to sprawl across tools and teams, weakening integration, oversight, and long-term sustainability at the enterprise level.
• Overabundant platform and vendor options that are not evaluated against defined use cases and architectural standards can lead organizations to stall decisions or invest in tools that do not deliver enterprise value.
• Limited IT bandwidth that forces teams into reactive execution, leaving no capacity to build repeatable processes, improve governance, or mature delivery over time.

Info-Tech's 12-Step Model for Systematic AI Improvement

The AI Playbook introduces a structured approach designed to be executed over the course of a year, helping IT leaders focus on specific improvement outcomes each month while maintaining visibility into overall progress. The framework explicitly guides leaders on when to build internally and when to buy from the market, grounding those decisions in use-case clarity, architectural fit, and governance requirements to increase the success rate of AI investments.

The key components of the model include:

• A 12-step, calendar-aligned framework that encourages a monthly focus area so leaders can build momentum and track improvement across the full AI function rather than attempting to mature everything at once.
• A prioritization and delegation approach that helps AI leaders identify which steps they will lead directly and which outcomes should be owned by other accountable leaders across the department.
• Integration into Info-Tech's Custom Key Initiative Plan (CKIP) program, enabling organizations to prioritize two to three high-impact initiatives annually while still maintaining a structured improvement journey across all 12 steps.
• A supporting research map of actionable Info-Tech resources aligned to each step, with analyst guidance designed to help teams translate the playbook into deliverables and measurable outcomes.

Info-Tech's AI Playbook provides IT leaders with a repeatable path to strengthen governance, improve execution discipline, reduce risk exposure, and demonstrate value in a way that can be sustained year over year.

For exclusive and timely commentary from Info-Tech's experts, including Rob Garmaise, and full access to The AI Playbook: 12 Steps to Systematically Achieve AI Excellence, please contact [email protected].

About Info-Tech Research Group 

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading and fastest-growing research and advisory firms, serving over 30,000 IT, HR, and marketing professionals around the globe. As a trusted product and service leader, the company delivers unbiased, highly relevant research and industry-leading advisory support to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to expert guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

To learn more about Info-Tech's HR research and advisory services, visit McLean & Company, and for data-driven software buying insights and vendor evaluations, visit the firm's SoftwareReviews platform.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software, and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].  

For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X.

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group