Logicalis research reveals 60% of global CIOs plan investment in AI agents in next 12 months

Logicalis, the leading global technology service provider, has revealed 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.

The research, published in the Logicalis 2026 CIO Report, reveals that more than half (53%) of global CIOs believe generative and agentic AI will fundamentally disrupt existing business models within the next two years. This signals that organisations are moving beyond using AI simply as an efficiency tool; instead, they see it as a catalyst for major transformation.

However, the research suggests that the practicalities of AI adoption could soon present significant organisational issues. Two-thirds (66%) of global CIOs believe employee training around AI risk management and responsible AI is inadequate. Additionally, only 37% believe their own knowledge enables them to accurately assess the reliability and stability of their AI providers. This has led one-in-seven (14%) to believe that their organisation has not conducted sufficient thorough due diligence on all their AI providers, raising concerns around potential exposure and governance gaps.

With these issues comes the fear that governance simply cannot keep up with the speed of AI adoption. Indeed, two-thirds (66%) of global CIOs are not fully confident that their organisation’s AI governance model can keep pace with the speed of deployment. CIOs in Ireland and the UK are more concerned than their global counterparts, with almost eight in ten (79%) expressing the same opinion.

The Logicalis 2026 CIO Report findings are reinforced by research sponsored by Logicalis and carried out by International Data Corporation (IDC) for its analyst brief Security in an Age of AI: Why Data Governance Makes the Difference. IDC projects that by 2029 more than one billion AI agents will be operational globally, collectively processing more than 217 billion actions per day, underlining the scale and pace of enterprise AI adoption.

As organisations move beyond pilot programmes towards implementation, IDC found that the challenge is increasingly shifting from AI adoption to AI governance. IDC identifies lack of security and governance as the leading concern surrounding enterprise AI globally, cited by 48% of organisations.

Mairead Malone, Ireland Country Lead, Logicalis UK&I said: “Our CIO research shows organisations are entering a new phase of AI adoption, where the conversation has shifted from possibility to practical implementation.

“IDC’s findings also reinforce what we are seeing in the Irish market. As agentic AI becomes embedded across business operations, organisations need to ensure governance evolves alongside deployment. Data governance sits at the centre of secure and scalable AI, extending across identity, permissions, auditability and tool usage. Organisations that establish these foundations will be best positioned to reduce risk while unlocking long-term value from AI investments.”

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