What’s holding back enterprise AI? Shortage of talent, CIOs say

A shortage of expertise has held back AI initiatives at many organizations, with shallow knowledge of the technology plaguing practitioners’ ability to make good on the promise of AI. According to CIO.com’s 2026 State of the CIO survey , lack of in-house talent was the top challenge IT teams faced in implementing AI strategies during the past 12 months, identified by 40% of respondents. The shortage is especially acute for roles at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, says Ha Hoang , CIO at