Reflection — In one year, AI went from “everyone’s job” to “one person’s responsibility”

In twelve months, the share of companies with an executive explicitly accountable for AI rose from 26% to 76% (IBM). The clearest signal of 2026 in the C-suite isn’t one more tool, it’s one more name on the org chart. When AI stays “everyone’s job,” it’s no one’s responsibility: projects scatter, no one settles the trade-offs, and value leaks away between IT and the business.

A single owner doesn’t relieve leadership of its responsibility; it gives leadership a clear point of accountability — a mandate, a budget, answers to give. Before you add another tool, name one person accountable for AI at the top, with a written mandate and a budget: not a committee, not “partly IT,” a name.

Source: IBM Institute for Business Value, “2026 CEO Study” (presented at Think 2026), May 2026 (2,000 CEOs, 33 geographies, 21 industries).