SEATTLE, Oct. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Slalom, the global business and technology consulting company, today released early results from its third AI Insights Survey, revealing a sharp divide between executive optimism and workforce readiness. 2,000 C-Suite and leaders were surveyed about their current and expected future investments in AI, and results found that while AI has become the centerpiece of corporate strategy, gaps in skills, systems, and leadership alignment threaten to slow progress.

Nearly all companies surveyed worldwide plan to increase AI spending in 2026, which is an acceleration from last year’s projections. Executives describe these investments as well-balanced, but 93% of organizations face workforce challenges, and half still run their core business applications on legacy platforms.

“This is not the beginning of AI disruption. It’s the endgame of its first act,” said Amy Loftus, Chief Customer Officer at Slalom. “Global executives told us they expect most AI-driven transformation will be complete by 2030. The final surge of change across roles, workflows, and systems will peak between 2026 and 2028.”

Slalom’s research points to a growing misalignment between strategy and execution, leaders and employees, optimism and operational reality. As AI investment accelerates, success will depend on bridging these divides with strong governance, workforce development, and people-centered innovation. “As executives push AI deeper into decision-making, the question becomes whether organizations have the data foundations and appropriate frameworks to ensure those decisions are trusted,” said Loftus.

Some of the survey’s top findings:

• AI investment is accelerating. Nearly all companies surveyed plan to increase their AI spending in 2026—an uptick from their 2025 projections. Most executives describe these investments as well-balanced against other organizational priorities.
  
• Cost reduction remains the top driver for AI investments. For most leaders, AI’s strongest returns come from eliminating repetitive and manual tasks. However, just 38% report that AI is delivering higher-quality, more consistent outputs - a gap that highlights untapped potential.
  
• Workforce readiness is a critical barrier to reaching AI goals. An overwhelming 93% of companies face workforce challenges that slow AI adoption, with skills gaps cited as the biggest obstacle. Compounding this, half of organizations still run more than half of their core business systems on legacy platforms.
  
• Executives are decreasing their interest in traditionally human skills. Half of leaders now rank critical thinking and problem-solving as the most essential capabilities for high-performing teams. In contrast, fewer see value in traditionally human skills: only 22% cite communication and interpersonal abilities as a critical skill, and just 19% emphasize emotional intelligence or empathy.
  
• AI is now central to executive decision-making. Two-thirds of companies already use AI assistants to address urgent business needs, and 95% of executives say they are comfortable with AI augmenting leadership and strategic decision-making.
  
• Executives lead the way in AI confidence. Executives are consistently more optimistic about AI than mid-level leaders. They are more likely to view AI as having a very positive industry impact (42% vs. 36%), and more comfortable relying on AI to augment leadership and decision-making (61% vs. 49% ‘very comfortable’).
  
• The C-Suite disagrees when it comes to workforce and AI goals. CEOs are the most bullish on AI’s transformative impact, with 51% viewing it as “very positive.” CHROs remain more cautious, with only 34% expressing the same optimism.
  
  

Slalom’s research is available for free to help customers and business executives make smarter decisions about AI investments. This year’s survey was hosted and administered by GLG Insights.

You can register to receive the full report, which publishes later this year, at https://www.slalom.com/us/en/services/artificial-intelligence.

About Slalom
Slalom is a fiercely human business and technology consulting company that leads with outcomes to bring more value, in all ways, always. From strategy through delivery, our agile teams across 52 offices in 12 countries collaborate with clients to bring powerful customer experiences, innovative ways of working, and new products and services to life. We are trusted by leaders across the Global 1000, many successful enterprise and mid-market companies, and 500+ public sector organizations to improve operations, drive growth, and create value. At Slalom, we believe that together, we can move faster, dream bigger, and build better tomorrows for all.

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