Global enterprises are navigating a strategic landscape fundamentally reshaped by two powerful and intersecting forces: deepening geopolitical fractures and the emergence of highly autonomous artificial intelligence. According to a comprehensive new survey of global chief information officers by the research firm Gartner, technology leaders are increasingly planning for a world where AI systems act independently to achieve business goals, even as they reconfigure their vendor relationships and data strategies in response to growing international tensions and demands for digital sovereignty.
This dual pressure is forcing a strategic pivot in boardrooms and IT departments worldwide. The era of AI experimentation is rapidly closing, replaced by an urgent mandate to deliver measurable returns on investment from a new class of “agentic” AI. Simultaneously, concerns over vendor geography and data sovereignty are creating a significant “transatlantic technology divide,” compelling companies, particularly those outside the United States, to favor regional technology providers and rethink what it means to operate a global IT portfolio. These trends signal a profound shift in how businesses will compete, innovate, and manage risk in the coming years.
The Dawn of Autonomous Enterprise Systems
The next wave of enterprise transformation is centered on agentic AI, a significant leap beyond the now-familiar capabilities of generative AI. While generative models excel at creating content in response to human prompts, agentic AI systems are designed for autonomous action. These systems can receive a complex goal, independently devise a multi-step plan to achieve it, execute tasks across different applications, and adapt their behavior based on real-time feedback with minimal human supervision. This evolution moves AI from a reactive assistant to a proactive agent capable of managing complex workflows.
According to Gartner, the corporate appetite for this technology is accelerating, with 64% of technology executives planning to deploy agentic AI within the next 24 months. The applications span numerous industries. An agentic system in a retail firm could autonomously manage a supply chain by monitoring weather forecasts, predicting shipping disruptions, rerouting deliveries, and updating inventory levels across multiple systems. In finance, an AI agent could analyze market data to execute trades or manage an investment portfolio according to a predefined strategy. Gartner predicts that by 2029, this technology will be advanced enough to resolve 80% of common customer service issues without any human intervention. This shift from assisting to executing is why Gartner analyst Kris van Riper noted that while “2025 was about AI pilots, discovery and experimentation,” the focus for 2026 “will be about delivering agentic AI ROI.”
A Widening Transatlantic Technology Divide
Even as companies embrace new AI paradigms, they are contending with a fragmenting global technology market. Gartner’s 2026 CIO and Technology Executive Survey, which polled 2,501 technology leaders, revealed a stark divergence in how enterprises in different regions approach their technology partnerships. This divide is driven by what Gartner analyst Chris Howard calls the “geopolitics of AI,” where vendor geography and data sovereignty risks have become critical business considerations.
The survey data shows that 50% of CIOs outside the U.S. expect to alter their vendor engagement strategies due to regional factors, compared to only 31% of their U.S.-based peers. This trend is particularly pronounced in Western Europe, where 22% of CIOs plan to reduce their reliance on international tech vendors and 27% aim to build stronger ties with regional providers. In fact, one in three non-U.S. CIOs is looking to shift focus to regional vendors, a strategy shared by only 16% of U.S. CIOs. This growing preference for local or regional partners, a trend Gartner labels “geopatriation,” threatens the long-held dominance of U.S. tech firms as the default “vendors of choice” for the global market.
Redefining Return on Investment
The immense potential of agentic AI and the complexities of geopolitical risk are converging to redefine how organizations measure the value of their technology spending. The push for AI is undeniable, with 89% of global CIOs planning to increase their AI investments in 2026. Gartner reports these investments are projected to grow more than 35% year-over-year, a significant allocation in an otherwise constrained IT budget environment. This spending spree comes with heightened expectations from executive boards, who are looking for clear, quantifiable business outcomes, not just successful pilots.
To achieve this, Gartner states that organizations must build internal capabilities across five key pillars. Success requires more than just purchasing new technology; it demands a fundamental alignment of strategy and execution. These pillars include:
- A business-aligned AI roadmap that connects technology initiatives directly to corporate objectives.
- Clear and measurable value targets to define what success looks like for each AI deployment.
- Robust upskilling initiatives to prepare the workforce for new roles collaborating with autonomous systems.
- Strong data governance practices to ensure the quality, security, and privacy of the information fueling AI agents.
- The organizational agility to reprioritize resources and processes to capitalize on AI-driven opportunities.
Without discipline across these five areas, companies risk making substantial investments in agentic AI without realizing its transformative potential, turning a strategic asset into a costly expenditure.
Strategic Imperatives for Technology Leaders
Building a Resilient Technology Ecosystem
In this new environment, CIOs must function as strategists who balance technological innovation with geopolitical risk management. The survey findings suggest that a one-size-fits-all global IT strategy is no longer viable. Leaders must develop more nuanced, geography-specific plans that account for local regulations, data sovereignty laws, and potential supply chain disruptions. Evaluating technology vendors based not only on their product capabilities but also on their geographic location and political stability is becoming a standard part of due diligence. This requires a proactive approach to building a resilient and diversified technology portfolio that can withstand sudden market shifts or regulatory changes.
Preparing the Organization for Autonomy
The shift to agentic AI also demands a significant cultural and operational transformation. As AI agents take over complex, multi-step tasks, human roles will increasingly focus on goal-setting, oversight, and managing exceptions. This necessitates a strategic focus on workforce readiness, including training programs that equip employees with the skills to design, manage, and collaborate with autonomous systems. Furthermore, leaders must establish strong ethical and governance frameworks to manage the risks associated with agentic AI, from ensuring algorithmic accountability to preventing unintended consequences of autonomous decisions. The ability to trust and verify the actions of these AI agents will be critical for their successful integration into the enterprise.
