KPMG Survey: 75% of CEOs Own AI Strategy but Only 24% of Firms Name Clear Accountability

Fortune reported that KPMG’s Global AI Pulse Q2 2026 report, based on a survey of about 2,100 senior leaders across 20 countries, found 75% of respondents say their CEO actively owns AI as a strategic priority. Twenty-four percent of organizations identify the CEO or executive committee as accountable for AI-informed decisions, while 29% point to a named C-suite executive.

Thirty-five percent of organizations say they have very clear guidance on when humans should override AI outputs.

Companies with clear executive accountability are more likely to strongly agree they can future-proof their AI strategy, at 60% versus 22%. Eric Bradlow, vice dean of AI and analytics at Wharton and a computer scientist and statistician, stated that organizational change and the need for humans in the loop constitute the biggest bottleneck preventing companies from realizing AI’s potential.

Bradlow, who has been at Wharton for 30 years and has focused on AI for the past decade, said organizations still do not know how to incorporate AI in a holistic way.

He added that the rise of large language models is making deep expertise more valuable because a person with deep skills must train and assess the output. Bradlow stated the biggest opportunities with AI lie in revenue enhancement rather than cost reductions.

Firms will expand into entirely new business models, which will require the redistribution of talent among both existing and new employees, he said.

He is part of the research team behind the Wharton-Accenture Skills Index, which tracks more than 150 million unique U.S. profiles and 100 million job postings. Michael Keogh was appointed CFO of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.