Forrester Technology & Innovation Summit Highlights: Preparing for AI Failures Ahead
October 8, 2025 — As artificial intelligence (AI) continues its rapid integration into enterprise operations, IT leaders are being cautioned to brace for a wave of AI project setbacks. Insights from the recent Forrester Technology & Innovation Summit reveal that while AI remains a high priority in corporate budgets, a significant number of initiatives may not deliver the expected value in 2026, requiring CIOs to step in and manage a complex recovery process.
AI Project Challenges and Budget Implications
Research presented by analyst firm Forrester suggests that a quarter of planned AI spending in 2026 will be deferred into 2027 due to failures in delivering measurable business outcomes. This anticipated slowdown is prompting enterprises to adopt a more cautious approach, including tighter involvement from CFOs alongside CEOs in overseeing AI investments.
“We’re entering a phase where the enthusiasm around AI—in particular, agentic AI deployments—is meeting the hard realities of execution complexity,” said Sudha Maheshwari, Vice-President and Research Director at Forrester. “The industry will see fragmentation in AI provider offerings, leading companies to build composable architectures to orchestrate multiple AI agents effectively.”
Maheshwari emphasized the need for enterprises to divest reliance from single providers and instead invest in governance measures and training programs that improve AI literacy across business teams. This approach aims to mitigate risk while allowing organizations to gradually develop their AI capabilities.
The Growing Role of CIOs in AI Recovery and Strategy
The summit spotlighted growing responsibilities for CIOs in 2026 as they become the go-to leaders for fixing business-led AI project failures. According to Forrester vice-president Mark Moccia, nearly 40% of AI decision-makers currently report that their CIO or CTO oversees AI technology strategy, with 21% also managing AI business strategy. These figures are expected to double, underscoring the shift of AI ownership into the IT leadership domain.
Moccia urges CIOs to proactively establish robust governance frameworks, curate essential data and knowledge assets, design user experiences, and rigorously manage the output quality of AI systems. “CEOs cannot wait for a high-profile AI ethics or policy failure to force action,” he said. “Technology leaders must be prepared now to avoid costly mistakes and reputational damage.”
Linking Tech Spend to Business Value
One of the key challenges highlighted at the summit is the increasing pressure on CIOs to justify technology budgets by clearly linking investments to tangible business value. With technology expenditures driven up by advancements in AI, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity, the demand for financial accountability is stronger than ever.
“Forrester research shows only about a third of enterprises have successfully mapped their technology services to core business capabilities,” Moccia explained. “To keep up, CIOs need to adopt IT financial management frameworks like Technology Business Management and FinOps. These tools help attribute costs accurately, especially for variable expenses such as cloud consumption.”
He stressed that CIOs must become fluent in communicating business value in CFO-friendly terms, avoiding vague justifications and instead providing transparent, measurable outcomes. He also recommended that tech leaders keep governance toolkits ready for timely intervention when AI projects derail.
The Future IT Workforce: Humans, AI, and Gig Workers
Beyond technology strategy and governance, Forrester forecasts that the traditional IT workforce is evolving. The new model will integrate human staff, AI bots, and gig workers, creating a mixed workforce that demands new leadership approaches. About one-third of CIOs are expected to implement gig worker protocols and utilize AI agents to support multi-job IT roles.
Managing this diversity will require enhanced leadership skills focused on orchestrating hybrid teams that combine human creativity with AI efficiency and flexible gig contributions.
Additional Resources and Insights
The summit also pointed to various technical and organizational hurdles in scaling AI from proof-of-concept to production environments. Experts highlight the brittleness of multi-agent AI workflows and the critical importance of real-time data access to ensure agentic AI deployments succeed.
Further reading:
- Why AI Agent Projects Are Stalling in Production — insights on multi-agent workflow challenges.
- Key Hurdles in AI from Proof of Concept to Production — an interview on overcoming storage and team-building obstacles.
Conclusion
As enterprises accelerate AI adoption, the Forrester Technology & Innovation Summit sends a clear message: success will require more than enthusiasm and funding. Effective governance, strategic financial management, talent development, and readiness to tackle failures head-on will define the leaders in the AI-driven future.
CIOs, in particular, must prepare to take center stage as the key executives orchestrating recovery and value creation from their organizations’ AI investments in 2026 and beyond.
Reported by Cliff Saran, Managing Editor
ComputerWeekly.com
Published: October 8, 2025, 15:45 BST
