CIOs have long been at the forefront of AI innovation, but the rise of autonomous AI agents marks a new era — one where digital labor has the power to transform how businesses operate. This shift presents an exciting opportunity for CIOs to boost efficiency, accelerate growth, and reimagine the workplace of the future.

Yet, despite the momentum, many CIOs are navigating complex challenges. Nearly all executives (97%) feel an urgency to adopt AI, but questions remain — like how to effectively integrate agents into existing infrastructure, how to realize real ROI, and how to keep everything secure. Today, only 11% of CIOs have fully implemented AI — and they attribute this to the array of technical and organizational challenges that must be overcome first.

Today, only 11% of CIOs have fully implemented AI — and they attribute this to the array of technical and organizational challenges that must be overcome first.

While many organizations are still finding their footing, some CIOs have already forged ahead. Here are three essential strategies they recommend.

Prepare your data for the agentic future

Businesses everywhere are eager to capitalize on AI agents, which promise greater efficiency and productivity. Because agents are only as good as the data and metadata fueling them, success starts with being able to access the most accurate, relevant, and timely records from across an organization. 

Erin DeCesare, CTO of workplace food tech platform ezCater, emphasized that building a strong data foundation is essential for bringing agents to life and maximizing their value.

“I’ve heard the term standardization come up a lot as leaders are talking about where we’re going with AI and how to successfully pass secure information back and forth so that agents can work across systems,” DeCesare said. “That shared data ecosystem is a critical part of how we’re thinking about pulling all those data elements together.”

That shared data ecosystem is a critical part of how we’re thinking about pulling all those data elements together.

Erin DeCesare, CTO, ezCater

ezCater is deploying AI agents to help users place orders more efficiently, which will allow their human agents to tackle more urgent customer inquiries related to delivery logistics and other onsite services.

“This gives us the confidence across the organization, including with our human agents, to feel that we are really empowering them in a better way to service the customer,” DeCesare said.

Prioritize agentic ROI by focusing on business outcomes

The pressure to prove AI’s returns on investment is mounting in the boardroom. While CIOs are enthusiastic about AI’s, 68% say their stakeholders have unreasonable expectations for when ROI will occur. 

Driving ROI for this rapidly evolving technology is a tall order for CIOs. They must evaluate various tools, compare vendors, and forecast potential impact across business units. But the most critical and complex piece of this process is getting business leaders to agree on what AI success actually looks like. 

PwC U.S. CIO and CTO James Shira underscored the need for a clear vision.

“First and foremost, you have to start with the outcome in mind,” he said. “I think you have to bring a perspective about what you’re trying to drive. Each time we explore the introduction of new models, how are we going to see the flow down in terms of the outcomes we’re promoting?”

For CIOs, prioritizing desired outcomes first‌ — ‌then building the AI stack to achieve them‌ — ‌is key, Shira added.

Bridge the gap between employee experience and customer experience with agents

CIOs are discovering that better employee experiences (EX) can fuel better customer outcomes (CX) — and AI agents can bridge the two. 

While early AI deployments focused on improving CX, businesses are now using AI agents internally to offload tedious and time-consuming tasks and projects, freeing employees to focus on more impactful work

Autodesk CIO Prakash Kota shared ‌how AI agents are driving impact on both fronts:

“We started focusing on employee experience, customer experience, and employee productivity,” he said. “How much time can we give them back so that they can focus on doing other important things?”

How much time can we give them back so that they can focus on doing other important things?

Prakash Kota, CIO, Autodesk

By measuring first-call resolution, call deflection, and customer satisfaction, Autodesk was able to gauge the effect of AI agents on both customers and employees, from productivity to time savings.

“For example, in customer service, if a particular human agent was on one call or chat at a time, our goal was — with all these capabilities we are giving them to assist — can we actually handle multiple chats at the same time effectively without compromising on customer satisfaction?” he said. 

The results spoke for themselves: Faster customer resolution led to higher satisfaction while simultaneously improving employee morale and reducing stress.

Riding the next wave of AI

With AI and autonomous agents poised to change how businesses operate and people work, leading CIOs understand the importance of preparation. Starting with a strong data foundation, an ROI strategy, and a focus on CX and EX will give organizations the edge they need to succeed.

More Information

• Explore Salesforce’s CIO trends research
• Watch the CIO Corner series
• Learn more about Agentforce
• Visit Salesforce’s AI Use Case Library

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