Well, well, well … if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions.

The clock is ticking for AI projects to either prove their worth or face the chopping block.

Or so says data management and machine learning biz Dataiku, which commissioned research conducted online by the Harris Poll to get a snapshot of the views from 600 Chief information officers (CIOs) across the US, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

The report, “The 7 Career-Making AI Decisions for CIOs in 2026,” claims AI is facing corporate accountability in 2026 after several years of investment into research and pilot projects. CIOs are worried their careers are on the line if the tech’s effectiveness falls short of expectations.

Money continues to be pumped into AI as the next great thing in business, but a growing number of studies have found that adopting AI tools hasn’t helped the bottom line, and enterprises are seeing neither increased revenue nor decreased costs from their AI projects.