AI is transforming financial services at pace - accelerating investment, intensifying competition, and raising expectations across the industry. Global AI spend in the sector is forecast to jump from $35 billion in 2023 to nearly $97 billion by 2027, highlighting just how critical AI has become to future growth. (World Economic Forum)

Logicalis CEO, Bob Bailkoski, explores the key AI leadership challenges facing CIOs today, highlighting the need to balance rapid AI adoption with strong governance, scalable foundations and trusted ecosystems to deliver lasting business value.

Dublin, Ireland. 20th August 2026. Logicalis, the leading global technology service provider, today reveals research that suggests an imminent surge in the global AI agent population. It found that 60% of global CIOs confirm their organisations are planning investment in agentic AI over the next year.

Launching an AI pilot is one thing. Scaling AI across the enterprise is another. Before investing in the next platform or use case, CIOs should ask whether the technology foundations are ready for what comes next.

New research that finds almost nine out of ten (89%) CIOs are ‘learning on the go’ when it comes to AI. The pace of AI adoption outstripping organisational readiness, and global CIOs are concerned about an “AI bubble”, citing this as a risk for their organisation.

As AI adoption accelerates across enterprise environments, new research from global technology service provider, Logicalis, suggests that it is introducing complex cybersecurity challenges that many organisations are still struggling to manage effectively.

Artificial Intelligence has dominated the priorities of modern enterprises, and executives are pushing for faster AI adoption within their organisations. But according to the research, the pace of AI adoption is exceeding governance speed limits!

It is clear from the results that AI is no longer emerging at the edges of the organisation; however, over a third of UK CIOs (36%) believe the pace of AI adoption within their organisations is "too fast," rising to 51% of CIOs globally.

The Microsoft Digital Defence Report 2025 and the Logicalis CIO Report 2025 both highlight the critical evolution of cybersecurity from a technical issue to a core business imperative that requires board-level attention and strategic alignment.