Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are leading the charge on AI, with 80% handed responsibility for researching and evaluating AI tools for their organisation, according to fresh research from CIO.

The State of the CIO Survey 2025 found that CIOs are both change-makers and traditionalists, taking charge of AI implementation while keeping one eye on essential business functions like cybersecurity and process modernisation.

Three-quarters of CIOs are already working closely with their line of business (LOB) counterparts on new AI applications, but they expect to become even more involved with AI and machine learning over the next year.

More than a quarter (26%) cited their organisation’s AI rollout as their top priority for 2025, while 45% said AI/ML investments were the most strategically important in the current climate.

This dedication is already proving valuable, as more than two-thirds (68%) claimed their AI efforts have already, or are at least beginning to, bear fruit through the reshaping of operations.

While the majority of CIOs said they will spend most time on furthering AI/ML-related initiatives (75%), they’re also keenly aware of doing the same within cybersecurity (65%), product development and innovation (56%), and data analysis (56%).

Functional duties are still a big part of the CIO job, according to 80% of respondents, with activities like managing security and improving IT operations and systems among their main tasks (38%), along with cost control and expense management (30%), as well as managing IT crises and negotiating with vendors (both 24%)

Put these responsibilities together, the poll found that CIOs are now fielding an average of 1.8 positions.

The study also found that the typical CIO charter continues to be more digital and innovation-focused, with 82% taking the lead on their organisation’s digital transformation plans, considerably more than their business counterparts.

In around a quarter of firms (26%), CIOs said they solely responsible for overseeing all digital transformation decisions and initiatives, although that number was higher among those in the financial services industry (39%).

Meanwhile, a third of CIOs (34%) are driving digital transformation plans alongside limited involvement from other executives, with 77% claiming a strong educational partnership with their CEO and Boards.

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The majority of CIOs (58%) said that they still had a direct reporting line to their CEO, in line with last year’s figures, although CIOs in the EMEA region were less likely to report to the top executive in the C-suite, at 40%, and more predisposed to reporting into a Corporate CIO (25%).

Added to that, the CIO role is being impacted by a flurry of recent additions to the C-suite, with responsibilities potentially becoming blurred. Half of firms this year reported having a Chief Technology Officer, while Chief Security Officers are also more common (31%), as are Chief Data Officer positions (22%).

However, just 14% of organisations said they had brought on board a Chief AI Officer, meaning that the responsibility for pushing AI tools further and faster will most likely stay with CIOs for now.