Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Gladys Yeo, director analyst at Gartner.
Executive AI literacy remains critically underdeveloped despite organizations setting ambitious AI goals.
Just 21% of C-suite executives view their peers as “AI savvy,” according to Gartner data. For CIOs, this challenge represents a leadership issue that can determine whether enterprise AI initiatives deliver value or fall short.
As AI becomes a central focus for boards and investors, executives are being asked to navigate high-stakes strategic decisions about risk, investment, workforce transformation and enterprise strategy that require both an understanding of AI and the judgement to apply it effectively.
The problem is executive AI literacy is often overlooked. Most organizations focus on general employee AI literacy, leaving executives with fragmented or generic self-directed learning that falls short of preparing them for the complexity of AI-driven decisions.
The opportunity for CIOs and AI leaders is to create executive AI literacy efforts that can strengthen leadership confidence, support enterprise AI ambitions and improve organizational outcomes. Gartner research shows organizations that prioritize executive AI literacy are better able to convert AI ambition to sustained business value.
The starting point is understanding what executive AI literacy means and how it is different from general workforce AI literacy.
Too often, AI literacy is simply equated with personal use of generative AI tools. However, executive AI literacy extends much further. It is the combination of “working knowledge” of data and AI and the ability to apply executive judgement to AI-driven decisions.
To acquire a working knowledge of data and AI, leaders must move beyond personal tool usage to understand core concepts, such as machine learning, generative AI and AI agents, enabling them to set realistic expectations for AI capabilities and business impact.
This understanding must be complemented by strong data literacy, including how data and AI work together to create value. Leaders should also recognize that AI success depends on the quality, accessibility and governance of enterprise data.
Executives do not need to become AI engineers or technical experts. Instead, they need enough understanding to question assumptions, challenge vendor claims, set realistic expectations and guide their organization through AI-related decision-making.
To develop executive judgement, CIOs must guide executives to use their working knowledge of data and AI across a new class of AI-driven strategic domains: protecting the enterprise, prioritizing value, preparing the workforce and positioning the business for long-term advantage.
1. Protect: Equip leaders to govern AI responsibly
CIOs must help executives build the judgement needed to navigate legal, ethical and regulatory grey areas in the AI landscape.
As AI adoption expands, executives will increasingly be responsible for governance, risk management and responsible AI deployment. Executive AI literacy should prepare leaders to make those decisions with confidence and clarity.
2. Prioritize: Focus AI investments on business value
CIOs must also equip executives with ability to make sound AI investment decisions that are scalable, realistic and aligned with enterprise goals. That means helping leaders evaluate trade-offs among feasibility, risk, value and return on investment while developing a realistic understanding of workflow redesign, total cost of ownership and vendor choices.
3. Prepare: Lead AI-driven workforce transformation
As AI reshapes how work gets done, executives must develop the capabilities needed to lead workforce transformation. Leaders must be prepared to manage AI-driven change, build employee confidence and align role-specific employee AI literacy and upskilling efforts.
As organization move past pilots and scale the use of AI, executives must be able to evaluate human-AI collaboration models, redesign roles and workflows and make strategic workforce transition decisions that strengthen human capabilities alongside AI.
4. Position: Build long-term competitive advantage
CIOs must ensure executives are prepared to assess how AI is reshaping competitive dynamics and enterprise strategy, make sourcing decisions and the ability to manage a balanced portfolio of AI initiatives.
Just as important is the ability to identify new revenue streams, value propositions and business models enabled by AI.
Executive AI literacy should be treated as a strategic business capability. As boards and investors demand stronger AI outcomes, CIOs are uniquely positioned and must step up to help executives build the judgment needed to navigate an uncertain and evolving AI landscape, make better decisions and lead transformation.
