80% of CEOs Project Major Operational Overhauls as AI Drives Shift Toward Autonomous Business

Brickinfo News Agency – A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. reveals that 80% of CEOs anticipate AI will force a medium to high degree of change to their operational capabilities. This shift marks a transition from traditional digital business models toward autonomous business strategies, where self-learning software and machine customers take an active role in decision-making and value creation. Business leaders are increasingly viewing this transformation as an immediate operational priority rather than a long-term theoretical goal.

The Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey, which gathered insights from 469 executives through late 2025, highlights a rapid departure from task-specific automation. Currently, 54% of CEOs report that their automation efforts are limited to specific tasks; however, that figure is expected to drop to just 13% by 2028. In contrast, 32% of CEOs plan to deploy self-learning AI tools to assist in human decision-making, while 27% expect their organizations to operate largely without human intervention.

Don Scheibenreif, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, noted that while digital business changed what an organization does, autonomous business changes how it operates. He stated, “Autonomous business is a strategy where self-learning software agents and machine customers make decisions, take action and create new types of value for organizations.” This evolution suggests that AI adoption is no longer just another layer of technology but a catalyst for rebuilding the entire enterprise structure.

The survey also warns of potential threats to traditional revenue streams. Approximately 28% of CEOs identified transactional revenue as the area most at risk from AI. As AI agents begin to automate purchasing, pricing, and negotiation, they may bypass existing intermediated systems that rely on transaction fees. David Furlonger, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, explained that this shift is “forcing CEOs to rethink profit models and pivot toward recurring, outcome‑based revenue models to avoid losing profit.”

Despite these radical operational changes, the core customer base appears relatively stable compared to previous eras. Only 17% of CEOs expect significant changes to their customer demographics, a sharp decline from the 39% seen during the height of the digital business era. Instead, the focus is shifting toward deepening relationships with existing clients and preparing for the rise of machine customers. Gartner predicts that the number of large companies with dedicated units for machine customer markets will double by the end of 2026.

To navigate this transition, experts suggest that CEOs and CIOs must reengineer their operational foundations. David Furlonger emphasized that the move to an autonomous economy requires a “capabilities‑first mindset” that prioritizes the delivery of value. For IT leaders, this underscores a critical need to develop systems that ensure data integrity and trust for both human and machine-driven decision-makers as the business landscape becomes increasingly automated.