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What’s important to the chief AI officer and AI leaders in 2026
Executive insights
Four topics shaping the AI agenda
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How to be an AI change agent
Whether you’re the chief AI officer (CAIO) or have added AI responsibilities to your current role, your company may still be developing its AI operating model. Some companies start with AI in a single function. Others appoint a senior leader to drive an enterprise-wide agenda from Day One. Either way, as an AI leader, your job can be immense. AI is more than a technology rollout. You’re charting a course for a world where today’s longstanding competitive advantages will likely be obsolete. You may also be working to convince others to adopt the significant changes required, including adopting new business strategies, ways of working, tech architectures, and risk management.
It’s a substantial set of responsibilities, and the outcome may determine if your company takes the lead or gets left behind.
In the spotlight
Speed and innovation matter more than scale
AI can do things today it couldn’t last week. Next week, it may do even more. The companies that thrive will likely be those nimble enough to quickly leverage AI’s growing power—and who use AI for more than productivity gains. AI can make scale obsolete by replicating—and outperforming—specialized labor, global production networks and other functions.
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“Success in this transformative era depends on how leaders approach strategy, adapt to the evolving nature of work, and prioritize trust.”
Where to focus in 2026
Artificial intelligence
Mobilize leaders to unlock AI value
Odds are, your C-suite is under pressure. Your executives know that AI is critical, but many senior leaders don’t understand AI and how it can impact your customers, suppliers, competitors, and employees. Your first task is to bring that impact to life for your fellow leaders—then help them understand what actions they can take. Whether they’re tax executives looking for AI agents to help deliver greater accuracy or CFOs expecting AI agents to put the finance function in a value-creating position, each senior leader can benefit from AI.
Mobilizing your fellow leaders to act can also persuade them to help you get what you need—a mandate to lead change along with a team, technology, and deliverables. You can’t transform your company as a cheerleader. You’ll need tools, authority, and resources.
Top insights
Finance
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Strategy and growth
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Board governance
How boards can effectively oversee AI to drive value and responsible use
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Risk and regulatory
What America’s AI plan means for cyber and risk leaders
What cyber and risk leaders need to know about the White House plan to spur AI innovation and security.
AI adoption could boost the global economy by 15% in the next 10 years
Strategy and growth
Craft a business-led AI strategy
If your company expects to use AI to make a few processes faster, you could be left behind. What’s needed is a bold, business-led strategy that covers both defense—safeguarding your position against AI-powered rivals—and offense—entering or creating new markets.
A built-for-AI business strategy can also consider the future of work (which depends on rewiring processes for hybrid teams of humans and AI agents), a Responsible AI framework, and the required technology foundations like next-gen AI-native cloud architectures, affordable computational power, and ready-for-AI data.
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Strategy and growth
Midyear update: 2025 AI predictions
Discover which trends are accelerating or fading and gain action-ready insights to stay ahead.
Strategy and growth
AI rewrites the playbook: Is your business strategy keeping pace?
AI can change competitive advantage and revolutionize business strategy. Leverage data to help transform the way you approach innovation and growth.
Value creation
A leader’s guide to value in motion
AI, climate change, and geopolitical shifts are reconfiguring the global economy. We’ve mapped where value is moving over the next decade to help you build a future-ready business to capture it.
“The companies that grasp not just what AI can do but continually reassess strategy and evolve what that means to their business will lead in the age of AI.”
AI and analytics
Plan for quick wins and AI at scale
With a strategy for your AI-powered future, work with your fellow leaders on a plan to achieve both quick wins and AI at scale. To gain support, help them see the value AI can create for the business as a whole. For instance, AI-powered data ecosystems and data-as-a-managed service offerings can quickly make data modernization a reality, integrating data from across your organization to deliver deeper, faster insights.
A solid plan can help turn hesitation into support. It can, for example, show the business that responsible practices won’t slow down AI value creation. Instead, Responsible AI can help accelerate adoption, enhance performance, and help AI investments pay for themselves faster.
Top insights
Risk
Delivering Responsible AI
Get practical guidance to help you manage AI’s complexity with confidence. Explore key actions across third-party risk, data governance, regulation, model testing, and more.
IT oversight
From backlog to breakthrough: AI agents are your IT force multiplier
Learn how CIOs can leverage AI in IT, with agents enabling leaner teams and smarter workflows, redefining IT's operating model, and accelerating business value.
Workforce
PwC’s AI Agent Survey
Explore our survey on AI agents and their impact on enterprise strategy, workforce, and future-ready operations across industries.
Healthcare
Turning oncology data into action
A cloud-first leap toward smarter care and faster research with AI that unified 50 data domains and enabled $50 million in value.
[58%] of executives say Responsible AI boosts ROI and efficiency
Workforce strategy
Deliver scale and transformation with agentic AI
Deliver on your plan with a two-pronged approach. Methodically harvest incremental value at scale—20% lower costs or higher revenue can be transformative if it’s everywhere—and select a few high-value areas for extra resources to help drive transformation more quickly.
For both approaches, an AI agent operating system like PwC’s agent OS can be fundamental. It’s the key to unlocking the potential of agents by enabling you to knit together different agents regardless of vendor or application. Whether the AI agents are part of an enterprise application or custom-built in house, the ability to orchestrate them into seamless workflows, processes, and solutions can be critical.
Top insights
Workforce strategy
Wyndham boosts speed and service with AI agents
Transforming global operations with AI agents, driving 94% faster brand updates and cutting call time in half—enhancing speed, service, and savings.
Technology
PwC’s agent OS: The AI agent platform for enterprises
Orchestrate, integrate, and govern AI agents across applications and platforms.
Workforce strategy
AI agents can reimagine the future of work, your workforce and workers
AI is reshaping work—faster than ever. Discover how AI agents can redefine workforce strategy, business models, and competitive advantage.
Governance
Unlocking value with AI agents: A responsible approach
Explore how businesses can harness AI agents to drive innovation, improve performance, and manage risks through strong oversight and governance.
[88%] of business executives say they’re increasing AI-related budgets in the next 12 months due to agentic AI, and 79% say their companies are already adopting AI agents
Source: PwC's AI Agent Survey
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