The Hackett Group’s 2025 CIO Agenda: Gen AI Adoption Surges More Than 5X in One Year

Technology leaders face urgent mandate to scale Gen AI, overcome barriers and drive business value

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT), a leading generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) strategic consultancy and executive advisory firm, today announced the findings of its 2025 Key Issues Study, revealing that 89% of enterprises are actively advancing Gen AI initiatives – a seismic shift from just 16% in the prior year. With customer experience, market expansion and product innovation emerging as the top business objectives for 2025, executives expect Gen AI to play a key role in delivering these priorities.

“Companies have moved from exploration to acceleration in Gen AI,” said Kyle McNabb, principal, Research, The Hackett Group. “They’re no longer asking ‘if’ AI will transform business operations, but ‘how fast’ they can implement it to drive measurable value.” CIOs are leading the charge in scaling AI adoption to redefine performance and unlock competitive advantage.

Key findings: The CIO’s Gen AI mandate for 2025

• Gen AI is a strategic imperative: Over 50% of organizations plan to use Gen AI specifically to improve the customer experience – solidifying its role in business transformation.
• Gen AI is creating tangible business value: Companies report gains in deliverable quality, process and worker productivity, and customer and employee experiences. Some are reporting transformative improvements of 40% or greater in specified areas, underscoring the potential of Gen AI when implemented effectively.
• Breaking barriers to Gen AI at scale: Most companies are still early in their Gen AI journeys. Many struggle with data quality, process complexity, workforce readiness and setting realistic expectations. Both technology and business leaders will be key to enabling collaboration, establishing a strong foundation, and choosing the right deployment model to scale Gen AI across the enterprise. Approximately 34% of companies are executing Gen AI strategies directly through the chief information officer (CIO), while others are adopting decentralized models that embed Gen AI delivery teams into business functions.

Gen AI will not wait – neither can CIOs

The report underscores that while executive sponsorship and investment in Gen AI are strong, the real challenge lies in execution. Companies need to streamline Gen AI deployment models, define and carve out budgets, upskill talent, and define realistic expectations of operational improvements to transition from project-based experimentation to enterprise-scale impact.

CIOs who act with urgency will lead the next wave of AI-driven transformation. Enterprises that delay adoption risk being outpaced by more agile, AI-first competitors.

Download the full 2025 CIO Agenda report.

About The Hackett Group^®

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an IP and platform-based, Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm that enables Digital World Class^® performance. Using AI XPLR^™ and ZBrain^™ – our ideation through implementation platforms – our experienced professionals help organizations realize the power of Gen AI and achieve quantifiable, breakthrough results, allowing us to be key architects of their Gen AI journey.

Our expertise is grounded in unparalleled best practices insights from benchmarking the world’s leading businesses – including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 89% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40 and 55% of the FTSE 100. Visit us at www.thehackettgroup.com.

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