How IT Leaders Can Get AI-Ready

Artificial intelligence becomes central to enterprise strategy. Gartner has outlined a four-step framework to help IT leaders prepare their organizations for sustainable and secure AI adoption. Over 75% of CEOs expect AI to transform their industries within three years. The challenge now lies in balancing opportunity with risk. Especially as only 38% of CIOs rate their AI value creation as strong. 

Gartner’s “AI Opportunity Radar” categorizes use cases into Everyday AI - improving productivity and existing processes - and Game-Changing AI - driving innovation through new products and business models. The firm advises IT leaders to align ambition with feasibility and risk, defining where AI will create the most value while ensuring readiness across infrastructure, culture, and governance. 

Key strategic priorities for IT leaders include: 

• Identify whether to use AI for incremental gains or transformative innovation, weighing feasibility, investment, and business impact. 

• Choose between SaaS, API, PaaS, IaaS, or self-hosted AI models based on speed, customization, and control over data and security. 

• The AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (TRiSM) model ensures visibility, auditability, and real-time enforcement to safeguard AI systems against bias, data leakage, and attacks. 

• Embed AI oversight into workflows using “guardian agents” - autonomous tools that monitor and adjust AI systems for integrity and compliance. 

Gartner predicts that by 2028, enterprises with robust AI risk and governance frameworks will outperform competitors by 25% in operational efficiency and trust. For CIOs, the message is clear: getting AI-ready isn’t about deploying models fast. It’s about building the right foundation for resilience, transparency, and long-term value. 

Source: 

https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/topics/ai-readiness