Ben Simkin

11% to 76% in Three Years

In 2023, 11% of organisations had a Chief AI Officer or equivalent. By 2025 it was 26%. In 2026, IBM's CEO study puts it at 76% who have one or are hiring one. Indeed reported Chief AI job postings grew 478% in a year. In 2025 alone, 94 Fortune 500 companies appointed one. The year before it was 30. Now the other side of the ledger. A well-run search takes 19 to 22 weeks. Five months to fill one role, because the world is full of tool users and almost nobody can show they have run AI inside a real business. 41 chapters and 12 appendices. $14.