Companies Are Pouring Trillions Into AI, But No One's Sure Who's in Charge

Who's responsible for AI strategy? Everyone assumes there's a clear answer — the problem is that it's a different answer depending on who you ask.

According to a new survey by consulting firm Pearl Meyer, only 34% of company leaders confirmed it's always clear who actually makes AI-related decisions — the lowest figure among all groups surveyed. Among board members, that number rises to 53%, and among senior managers and specialists just below the C-suite (top executive roles like CEO and CFO), it climbs to 57%.

In other words, the employees responsible for actually implementing AI and getting real results from it are the ones who find this question most unclear. Senior executives, who sit further from the day-to-day chaos of execution, are more likely to assume the matter is already settled. Meanwhile, 78% of employees below the C-suite said their company has enough experienced people to effectively roll out and oversee AI across the whole organization — another curious contradiction.

Similar gaps between top leadership and lower-level managers showed up on plenty of other questions in Pearl Meyer's Q2 2026 Market Intelligence survey. The survey was conducted in May and June among 116 people — board members, CEOs, C-suite executives, and senior managers below that level.

These findings suggest AI adoption isn't going nearly as smoothly as some CEOs expected — and it's happening against a backdrop of enormous spending. According to research firm Gartner, total AI spending this year — including capital expenditure on infrastructure — will reach $2.5 trillion, a 44% increase over last year, with that figure expected to climb to $3.3 trillion next year. At that scale of investment, CEOs are well aware that falling behind competitors or failing to deliver expected results could cost them their jobs.