Culture and operational readiness are holding back AI roll-outs

Two-thirds of organisations are investing heavily in AI, yet 61% of leaders say they now feel more pressure than a year ago to prove ROI from those investments. While confidence in AI’s impact is high, most organisations remain structurally unprepared to capture its value, new research finds.

As results continue to underwhelm on the technology, many investors are suddenly looking at substantial AI spending, and wondering when the returns advertised will start to materialise. When IBM polled an international cohort of CEOs, for example, the researchers found that progress to realise that was slow. In 2024, two-thirds of leaders said they expected to move beyond the piloting phase of AI changes, but a year later, 60% were still stuck in the nascent period of experimenting.

Late in 2025, another paper from MIT found that fewer than one-in-ten firms had seen positive financial impacts from implementing AI. Meanwhile, at the start of 2026, digital product studio Studio Graphene discovered that while over three-quarters of UK businesses are now using AI tools, the vast majority are yet to see any return on their AI investments – something which their backers are keen to change.

To that end, the latest Kyndryl Readiness Report shows that while 68% of organisations are investing heavily in AI, 61% of leaders say they now feel more pressure than a year ago to prove ROI from those investments.

Gavin Goveia, Kyndryl Consult UK&I leader, said, “The cracks are starting to show on ROI. Pressure is rising and urgency has turned into expectation. AI investment made in 2025 has to deliver real results in 2026, productivity gains, efficiency, better services and ultimately profit. We’re seeing companies that rushed AI for speed or optics now pause, scale back or rethink their plans altogether.”

But while publicly, business leader confidence in AI’s impact remains high – 87% told Kyndryl’s researchers they believed AI was still going to “completely transform roles and responsibilities” at their organisation over the next 12 months – many seem to be lining up excuses for when that turns out not to be the case.

Of the 3,700 leaders across 21 countries polled, Kyndryl found that cultural barriers had emerged as AI readiness’ leading perceived blocker. A 48% chunk of CEOs say their organisation’s culture stifles innovation, while 45% believe decision-making moves too slowly. These challenges are compounded by operational hurdles: 35% of organisations not yet seeing positive ROI from AI cite integration as a top challenge. 

Goveia added, “The worst position to be in is working with a half-baked AI strategy. Six-in-10 leaders say the pressure to prove ROI has intensified year on year, yet expectations are climbing on top of flawed foundations. That’s why the focus has to shift away from the technology itself and onto the structure around it, the processes, governance and playbooks that actually make AI work.” 

At the same time, skills shortages from the human side of the business were said to further threaten progress. When asked about the most concerning impacts of AI on the workforce, 41% leaders cited having the right technology skills to capitalise on AI opportunities, while 39% pointed to gaps in core, human and cognitive skills. Attracting that human talent may be tough, considering so much of CEO rhetoric on AI centres on finding ways to undercut human labour with machinery – and abandoning those who fall by the wayside to their fate.

To that end, 38% of those surveyed said they are “unsure how to upskill or reskill employees whose roles may be replaced by AI”. And while it might seem antithetical to what businesses really want from automation, looking for ways to ‘make AI work’ may hinge on doing better for their prospective employees, than simply saying “once this technology is integrated, you’re on your own”.