As artificial intelligence permeates corporate operations, chief information officers face their sternest test yet: proving return on investment under tightening fiscal constraints. Info-Tech Research Group’s CIO Priorities 2026 report, released January 20, reveals a shift from AI experimentation to rigorous value extraction. With economic uncertainty curbing technology spending, CIOs must demonstrate measurable outcomes or risk budget cuts.

The report, drawing from surveys of over 800 IT leaders, identifies five core priorities: optimizing AI for enterprise value, strengthening data foundations, enhancing financial discipline, managing risks proactively, and building operational resilience. ‘CIO success in the year ahead will hinge on disciplined value delivery,’ states the analysis from The Globe and Mail coverage. This pivot comes as AI adoption surges, with 78% of organizations deploying generative AI tools enterprise-wide, yet only 22% reporting sustained business impact.

AI’s Enterprise Inflection Point

AI hype has given way to accountability. Info-Tech notes that while pilots proliferated in 2025, scaling remains elusive due to fragmented governance and unclear metrics. The firm’s data shows CIOs prioritizing AI optimization as their top initiative, aiming to transition from proof-of-concept to production-grade deployments that drive revenue or efficiency gains.

In a related development, PR Newswire highlighted Info-Tech’s ‘AI Playbook,’ a 12-step framework addressing these gaps. It emphasizes governance structures that tie AI initiatives to specific KPIs, such as cost savings or customer retention rates. ‘Most organizations remain unable to operationalize AI at scale or demonstrate sustained business value,’ the playbook warns, based on client data from hundreds of deployments.

Data as the New Currency

Robust data infrastructure underpins AI success, yet many firms falter here. The CIO Priorities report ranks data management second, with 65% of leaders citing poor data quality as a barrier to AI ROI. Info-Tech recommends unified data platforms to enable real-time analytics, reducing silos that plague 40% of enterprises.

CIO.com echoes this, listing data governance among its top 10 CIO priorities for 2026. ‘CIOs must double down on data governance and security,’ the publication advises, noting regulatory pressures like evolving GDPR and CCPA variants demand compliance alongside innovation.

Financial Discipline in Tight Times

Budget pressures amplify the need for cost transparency. Info-Tech’s third priority focuses on IT financial management, urging CIOs to adopt zero-based budgeting and value-stream mapping. Survey respondents report 30% average IT budget growth stalled, forcing trade-offs between AI investments and core maintenance.

This aligns with broader trends reported by CIO.com, where executives describe 2026 as ‘the year AI ROI gets real.’ After failed pilots, leaders are implementing portfolio reviews to kill underperforming projects, reallocating funds to high-impact areas like AI-driven automation.

Risk Management Evolves

Proactive risk handling ranks fourth, as AI introduces vulnerabilities like model bias and hallucination. Info-Tech advocates threat modeling tailored to AI systems, with 55% of CIOs planning expanded cybersecurity budgets. The report ties this to third-party risks, given 70% reliance on vendor AI tools.

PR Newswire details Info-Tech’s Security Priorities 2026, emphasizing resilience and identity management amid AI threats. ‘Security leaders are under growing pressure,’ it states, with organizations shifting from reactive defenses to predictive controls.

Building Operational Resilience

Resilience closes the priorities list, focusing on hybrid cloud optimization and talent upskilling. With outages costing millions, CIOs target 99.99% uptime through AI-enhanced monitoring. Info-Tech data reveals 45% plan infrastructure modernization to support AI workloads.

Posts on X from Info-Tech Research Group underscore execution: ‘IT doesn’t need to do more – it needs to do what matters.’ This sentiment resonates as CIOs navigate talent shortages, with demand for AI ethicists and data engineers surging 50% year-over-year.

Broader Industry Echoes

CIO.com‘s digital transformation outlook reinforces Info-Tech’s findings, urging CIOs to ‘transition AI to customer experience opportunities’ while axing low-value experiments. It predicts a 25% rise in AI-linked revenue streams for prepared firms.

At Info-Tech LIVE 2026 in New Orleans, as covered by PR Newswire, Tech Trends 2026 will unpack these shifts. ‘Organizations are facing mounting pressure to adopt emerging technologies while maintaining stability,’ organizers note, offering CIOs tactical roadmaps.

Strategic Implications for Leaders

CIOs ignoring this refocus risk obsolescence. Success stories from early adopters, like those in Info-Tech’s benchmarks, show 3x ROI from governed AI scaling. Financial stakeholders demand dashboards tracking AI contributions to EBITDA, per the report.

Industry watchers on X, including Info-Tech posts like ‘If IT doesn’t define its value, someone else will,’ highlight narrative control. CIOs must communicate wins in business terms—e.g., ‘AI cut procurement cycles by 40%’—to secure 2027 budgets amid recession fears.

Path Forward