How AI is changing the role of IT leaders

Artificial intelligence has redefined what it means to lead in IT, with 63 percent of IT leaders
reporting that their roles have evolved due to advances in AI.

A study, from IT management platform Atera, finds today’s IT leaders are increasingly responsible for driving business value. 49 percent cite business value leadership -- shaping strategy and translating AI into revenue and growth – as the top area of increased importance, and 47 percent point to orchestrating human-AI collaboration as a key change in their roles.

“AI may be transforming operations, but it’s IT leaders who are transforming the enterprise,” says Gil Pekelman, CEO of Atera. “The data is clear: AI agents have unlocked an entirely new reality, one where they are capable of anticipating, learning, and taking actions autonomously. The CIO mandate is now to lead enterprise IT with AI -- driving measurable business value across the organization.”

The same AI capabilities driving strategic change are also reshaping the foundation of IT work itself. The benefits of AI are tangible. A whopping 74 percent say nearly half (at least 41 percent) of their tier-1 support tasks (repetitive troubleshooting or routine requests) could be reduced by implementing autonomous AI agents.

IT leaders surveyed say their strategic decision-making scope now includes customer experience (41 percent), human resources (41 percent), finance (39 percent), ethics and compliance (39 percent), and operations (38 percent). These shifts underline how AI is turning IT from a cost center into a catalyst for enterprise-wide value creation.

In addition 71 percent of IT leaders say AI is now embedded in non-IT departments such as HR, operations, and finance. This widespread adoption is driving measurable improvements across the business: nearly all respondents rated operational efficiency (91 percent), employee productivity (91 percent), customer and stakeholder impact (92 percent), business growth (92 percent), and governance and resilience (90 percent) as at least somewhat important to their role.

However, in spite of growing adoption, only 12 percent of IT leaders say AI ownership in their organization is ‘very clear and fully standardized,’ while 37 percent describe it as somewhat or very unclear.

You can get the full report from the Atera site.

Image credit: peshkova/depositphotos.com