At this year’s Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo™, one message stood above the rest: AI and digital transformation cannot succeed without a strong foundation.
Organizations are racing to implement AI, but most are discovering that the true challenge isn’t adoption — it’s the ability to utilize AI in a way that accelerates work and achieves trusted results. Despite unprecedented investment, only one in five AI initiatives delivers disruptive business value. While technology is advancing fast, most enterprises are still building the foundations needed to sustain and scale it.
AI relies on human readiness
Research shared during the opening keynote shows that the average organization operates at about 50% AI readiness and about 25% human readiness. In other words, companies may have the tools to deploy AI, but not the structure, skills, or trust to maximize it.
A strong foundation spans two critical dimensions:
- Technical readiness: Requires reliable, accurate data; scalable infrastructure; and seamless integrations. AI models are only as powerful as the data ecosystems and governance structures supporting them.
- Human readiness: Requires workforce alignment; trust in leadership; and the right skill sets to guide and interpret AI outcomes. Without this, even the best technology fails to deliver impact.
The takeaway: AI transformation is as much a people challenge as it is a technology challenge.
Fragmented infrastructure is the barrier to readiness
Many CIOs face familiar obstacles on the path to AI maturity:
- Accuracy and reliability: GenAI error rates can reach up to 25%, undermining confidence in automated outputs.
- Hidden costs: Post-implementation expenses often exceed initial estimates as organizations uncover integration, training, and governance needs.
- Fragmented vendor landscape: With over 1,000 AI vendors in the market, CIOs must evaluate solutions not only for capability but also for sovereignty, data integrity, and long-term interoperability.
These challenges make clear that strong foundations start with clean, connected, and trusted data before layering on complex AI capabilities.
The human layer: Building trust and capability
AI transformation also requires cultural readiness. Gartner found that only 10% of HR leaders have proactive AI upskilling programs, and just 26% of employees trust their leadership to guide AI adoption.
This gap underscores the importance of human enablement:
- Building skills in context engineering, agent management, and data literacy.
- Aligning workforce strategies around how roles will evolve with automation.
- Empowering managers to communicate transparently about AI’s impact on work.
Ultimately, organizations that treat their people as co-pilots rather than bystanders in the AI journey will be the ones that realize lasting ROI.
Redefining IT for 2030
Gartner predicts that in only five years, 75% of IT work will be AI-augmented. This evolution demands new infrastructure, new leadership models, and a reimagined mandate for IT itself. CIOs must lead the transition toward agent-ready architectures — systems that are designed to scale, adapt, and continuously improve with AI integration. Those who establish this foundation today will not only weather the next wave of disruption but create it.
Building toward transcendent value
When both technical and human foundations are strong, organizations reach what Gartner calls “transcendent value” — where AI doesn’t just automate work, but redefines business models, pricing, and industry norms. This is the new horizon of digital transformation: one that rewards readiness, not just ambition.
Learn more about how Verato supports AI initiatives with a trusted identity foundation.
