Despite all the benefits and myriad opportunities that AI promises, just under half of CIOs now say they often wish it had never been invented, according to new research from Logicalis.

Surveying over 1,000 Chief Information Officers, the tech services provider’s latest annual CIO Report found that 51% believe AI adoption within their organisation is moving too fast, a concern overwhelmed by a wider appetite for more AI, with almost all (94%) of firms reporting a sharp increase in adoption over the last year.

A flood of novel, AI-driven vulnerabilities means that CIOs are struggling to keep pace, with over a third reporting reduced ability to detect breaches, and a similar number (34%) citing a growing number of blind spots across attack surfaces. 

As a result, incident response times have worsened for close to half (41%) of firms, while 68% have raised budgets for post-breach remediation and ransom payments in preparation for incidents linked to threat actors’ expanding use of AI.

Risks are also fast emerging from a lack of AI governance, with only 37% of CIOs saying they have full visibility of AI tools across their organisation, while 62% say employees are jeopardising data security through unsafe AI use.

Added to that are operational challenges stemming from the breakneck pace of AI, with less than half of CIOs agreeing current strategies are aligned with wider business plans or performance indicators, an issue Logicalis said is leaving CIOs in a “grey zone” where AI initiatives move forward without frameworks for measuring value. 

Unsurprisingly, this has left CIOs lacking confidence in almost every aspect of AI’s rollout. Just a third (36%) said they were “extremely confident” that they have the right guidance and best practices in place to lead AI initiatives effectively, while 55% do not trust their organisation has a coherent AI roadmap in place.  

Growing environmental concerns are also adding to the CIO’s burden, with only 39% confident that their organisation is accurately measuring and managing the impact of its AI initiatives, and just 41% agreeing that energy efficiency is being prioritised. 

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Underlying these challenges are persistent talent gaps, with almost all (94%) of CIOs reporting a cybersecurity skills shortage, and 88% citing a lack of internal technical skills, a deficit that means two-thirds of CIOs don’t believe they can scale beyond AI pilots anytime soon.

Looking forward, more than half of those polled said that genAI and agentic systems are likely to fundamentally disrupt their business models within two years, with nearly all (94%) expecting to lean more heavily on managed service providers and almost half (47%) anticipating that contractors will deliver core IT services.

“CIOs are being asked to build the future while simultaneously safeguarding it. They are navigating a world where speed and stewardship must coexist, where innovation must advance in step with trust, governance and responsibility,” said Bob Bailkoski, CEO of Logicalis Group, in the report’s foreword.

“Few CIOs expect to carry this transformation alone. Instead, they are building ecosystems, networks of partners, specialists and trusted advisors who can amplify capability, accelerate progress and reinforce resilience.”