Companies are spending trillions on AI. The C-suite doesn’t know who is in charge of it

Everyone agrees that someone is calling the shots on a corporate AI strategy.

It’s just that a lot of executives aren’t clear on who that is.

Only 34% of C-suite executives in a new Pearl Meyer survey said it’s consistently clear which executive or team makes calls about AI, which was the lowest of all the cohorts polled.

Among corporate board members, the figure rose to 53%.

But when the question was asked of senior managers and professionals below the C-level, the figure rose even higher to 57%.

Essentially, the group of executives likely to be blocking and tackling on-the-ground AI implementation are the least convinced that anyone is clearly owning the decisions and results.

Those who are furthest away from owning the messiness of implementation, are more likely to feel the matter is settled.

The survey found 78% of executives below the C-suite report that their companies have the senior talent required to effectively implement and oversee AI across the whole company.

Significant gaps between the uppermost rungs at companies and other executives run through much of Pearl Meyer’s Q2 2026 Market Intelligence Survey .

The poll of 116 board members, CEOs, C-suite execs, and senior managers below them was conducted in May and June and shared exclusively with Fortune ahead of its release on Thursday.

The results, which show that AI deployment isn’t going as smoothly as some CEOs had hoped, comes at a high-stakes and expensive moment.

Total AI spending, including capital expenditures on AI infrastructure, is poised to reach $2.5 trillion this year, a 44% increase in spending over last year, according to research and advisory firm Gartner .

Next year spending is projected to rise to $3.3 trillion, the firm found.

At that level of investment, CEOs know their heads could be on the chopping block if they fall behind relative to competitors and if they fail to deliver at their own companies.