H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama
Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence
The Report
Solving the AI ROI Puzzle is a global study of the Chief AI Officer role, produced by the IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with the Dubai Future Foundation and Oxford Economics.
In the first quarter of 2025 it surveyed 624 CAIOs across 22 countries and 21 industries — reaching more than 2,300 organisations to find them. Only 26% had a CAIO at all, though that is up from 11% in 2023, and 66% of those surveyed expect most organisations will have one within two years.
Organisations have poured billions into AI, and only 25% of initiatives since 2023 have returned what was expected of them.
The report asks why, and finds the answer has less to do with the technology than with who owns it, where they sit in the organisation, and whether
Key Findings
+10% ROI on AI spend
Organisations with a Chief AI Officer see 10% greater return on their AI spend, and are 24% more likely to say they outperform their peers on innovation.
+36% from a centralised operating model
CAIOs running hub-and-spoke or centralised AI operating models see 36% higher AI ROI than those managing decentralised ones — and move twice as many pilots into production.
57% report to the CEO or the board
Authority is what makes the role work. 57% of CAIOs report directly to the CEO or the Board of Directors, 61% control the AI budget, and 76% say other CxOs consult them on important AI decisions.
The Paradox
68% start AI projects anyway, even when they cannot assess the effect — because the most promising AI opportunities are often the hardest ones to measure.
The report’s answer is not to stop funding what you cannot count. It is to widen what counts: new revenue streams, accelerated innovation, and a shared dashboard of AI KPIs visible to every decision-maker who needs it.
DCAI oversees the selection and implementation of Chief AI Officers across Dubai government. This research is the evidence base that programme is built on.