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The majority of IT leaders are anticipating AI agents to cause incidents at their companies — and many expect to be held responsible, according to a new survey from Workato

As underlying models quickly grow more advanced, AI investment is accelerating: 92% of organizations plan to deploy digital co-workers in the next 18 months, per the “AI Challenges Threatening IT Leader Success” report. And 95% believe the benefits of AI will be positive for their businesses.

But in many organizations, AI adoption threatens to outpace internal controls. While 66% of AI deployments happens through established channels, the majority (64%) of technology leaders expect the share of unauthorized AI use cases to continue to grow. As a result, roughly two-thirds of respondents (62%) now believe AI-driven public security or compliance incidents are possible in the next few years.

The gap highlights the quandary for CIOs and other leaders: “IT leaders are in a double bind. They are pushed to roll out increasingly powerful AI, yet they can’t fully control it, and they are on the hook when it goes wrong,” Workato CTO Adam Seligman wrote in the report.

Business users are clamoring for more powerful tools, and technology departments don’t want to be viewed as barriers to innovation. At the same time, IT leaders are on the hook when incidents happen: 72% believe they’d be held accountable if AI agents improperly leak data or violate policies — and 23% anticipate they would be expected to resign.

For technology leaders, the mandate now is on transparency and accountability. In terms of priorities, 42% are focused on tracking agent activity, while 31% want more control over decisions and actions: “These findings reinforce the demand for enterprise-wide governance and control of AI that allows companies to innovate while giving IT leadership the control and visibility required,” Adam wrote.

To download the full report, visit: https://www.workato.com/full-reports/ai-challenges-threatening-it-leader-success.