Unintentional decision-making sets up AI deployments to fail

New research shows that leadership teams disagree on everything from the impact of AI transformation and speed of deployment to whether it will lead to redundancies

• 74% of executives expect AI to transform their organization in the next 12 months but only 47% of senior managers agree
  
  
• 63% of executives expect redundancies within six months, yet fewer than half (44%) of senior managers know about these plans

LONDON and NEW YORK, March 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Orgvue, the organizational design and planning software platform, reveals a lack of intentionality in decision-making that leaves many AI transformations at risk of failure. Despite the scale of investment in AI, nine in ten (89%) senior leaders admit they rely on instinct when making key decisions, while only a third consistently use data to guide them.

The study has uncovered a worrying pattern of organizational mistakes, with leaders beginning AI deployments without shared clarity, an agreed set of objectives, or the organizational processes and structures in place to execute them effectively.

Orgvue's research identified three root causes that are undermining AI deployments: leadership vision, technological literacy, and operational execution, which together are creating an 'Intentionality Gap'. Orgvue defines intentionality as making deliberate, data-led transformation decisions, rather than relying on instinct and short-term results.

Vision: Leaders are not aligned on what AI can achieve for their organization
While enthusiasm for AI is high, leadership teams are split on how quickly workforce transformation will happen. 74% of executives think AI transformation is "highly likely" in the next 12 months but only 47% of senior managers agree.

There is also a disconnect on urgency and priorities: over half (56%) of executives say AI deployment is one of their top three priorities for 2026, compared with 42% of senior managers.

Technology: Leaders want AI but deployment decisions aren't data-led
Organizations know AI deployment is complex, yet many leaders don't feel equipped to make deliberate choices. Only 46% of executives and 38% of senior managers believe they have the technological literacy required to be more intentional in their processes.

The C-suite prioritizes advanced AI prompting skills (54%), while senior managers point to foundational execution capabilities, such as core analytical thinking (53%) and project management tools (59%), to make an AI plan work in practice.

Execution: Inconsistent leadership behaviors and outdated structures create barriers
Leadership is split 50/50 between encouraging teams to "act first" or insisting on "oversight and checks", creating confusion and inertia that slows implementation.

At the same time, a third (34%) of executive and C-suite leaders believe employees mainly focus on executing leadership direction rather than shaping the vision, treating the workforce as a passive execution engine rather than actively engaging teams in AI deployment.

The disconnect is most evident when it comes to redundancies: 63% of executives expect redundancies within six months but less than half (44%) of senior managers know about these plans, fueling uncertainty and increased risk of eroding trust.

Commenting on the findings, Mike Bobek, Orgvue's Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, said:
"The decisions organizations make about AI in the next twelve to eighteen months will have consequences that last a decade, which makes this research both important and sobering. The gap between executive ambition and organizational readiness is real, it's measurable, and it's costing organizations the very advantage they're trying to capture.

"The difference between what executives plan and what senior managers see first-hand is striking. Organizations are making redundancies, accelerating AI deployment timelines and setting priorities that simply aren't landing two levels down. That's not an AI problem; it's a fundamental breakdown in organizational intentionality. And this is the single biggest predictor of transformations that ultimately stall and fail.

"Even so, this gap is closeable but it requires continuous, rather than annual, planning. Leaders need to make workforce decisions on evidence instead of assumptions and be fully transparent with the workforce about what's changing and why. That's not easy but the organizations willing to do that work are the ones who will look back on this period as the moment they pulled ahead."

About Orgvue
Orgvue is an organizational design and planning platform that empowers your business to transform its workforce by understanding the work people do and the skills they have. Our platform connects strategy to structure, providing clarity of vision, so you can build a more adaptable, better performing organization that thrives in a constantly changing world of work.

The world's largest and best-known enterprises and consulting firms use Orgvue to visualize and model current and future states of the organization and make faster, more informed decisions. The company is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

About the research
The research was conducted by Vitreous World via a web survey with 1,166 senior decision makers. Respondents were from organizations of 2,000+ employees in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, and 500+ employees in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The sample included Executive Leads (470), C-suite teams (235), and Senior Management (461).

SOURCE Orgvue