IBM survey finds 80% of EMEA executives escalated AI incidents to senior leaders

Oct 14, 2026
An IBM survey found that 80% of executives said an AI incident reached their board or C suite in the past year, but only 40% changed their governance policies or frameworks in response.

IBM said in a press release that 80% of surveyed executives reported an AI incident reaching their board or C suite in the past year. Only 40% said their organization changed its AI governance policies or frameworks in response.

Thirty five percent of respondents said their organizations already run AI agents in production, while 75% expect agents to have some decision autonomy by 2027. Only 37% said their governance systems can scale with wider agent deployment. When deployment moves faster than governance preparations, 56% continue within agreed risk limits and 33% delay deployment.

Although 98% said responsibility for AI risk is formally assigned at board level, respondents showed no clear agreement on accountability for harmful outcomes. Only 37% had a formal board reviewed estimate of the financial exposure caused by governance gaps, while 54% reported gaps in oversight of AI systems used by vendors and other partners.

Censuswide surveyed, on behalf of IBM, 3,221 executives at organizations with at least 1,000 employees in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The survey was conducted from September 14 to September 24, 2026.

IBM sells AI software and consulting services, and the findings reflect what executives reported in the survey.

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