Only 4% of CIOs Plan Role Changes for an AI Agent Workforce

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Most chief information officers are skipping the deeper redesign of jobs that an agentic-era workforce would need, according to Gartner. The analyst firm surveyed 2,002 CIOs and technology executives for its 2027 CIO and Technology Executive Agenda report, released Oct. 19.

Just 4% of respondents have plans in place to revamp roles around a workforce of humans and AI agents. Gartner found that enterprises with such plans are 2.4 times more likely to be top performers with AI, and more likely to have CEOs who report value from it.

"If you do not have a workforce that is ready to operate in this world that deals with this level of AI agents and governance, the costs are going to be played out because you're going to have a team that can't effectively deliver on it," Alicia Mullery, a Gartner vice president analyst, told CIO Dive.

Cost pressure comes first

Costs are on the minds of the leaders surveyed. Some 58% report growing demand from their companies to show cost improvements from earlier AI investments. Only 13% say their AI spending has produced significant or transformational value.

Mullery said the pressure comes from CEOs, boards and leadership. "I think we've passed the time of endless scale," she said.

That gap between pressure and results has left CIOs with less time and fewer resources for workforce redesign. In recent years, businesses have asked CIOs to handle IT modernization, budget discipline and AI experimentation, and to play a bigger part in workforce strategy. Many have put talent on the back burner as a result.

"There is so much that's a top priority that I think sometimes technology, the cost of it, managing that out, can overshadow some of the talent pieces because it's not as immediate as an expensive bill that's coming in," Mullery said.

CIOs can change that, Gartner said. They can explain to other C-suite leaders how AI affects the workforce, from the scope of specific roles to salary dynamics, particularly as AI scales across the enterprise. Mullery said that would raise the CIO to a more strategic conversation the rest of the C-suite wants to have.

Source: HR Dive