Field Report: Companies Are Decentralizing AI — It’s Forcing Them to Find New Ways to Stay Aligned
Insights on how data and AI leaders are navigating fragmented ownership, rising “shadow AI,” and the push for alignment at scale.
AI is scaling quickly across companies, but ownership isn’t keeping up. As more teams build and deploy AI use cases, accountability is increasingly distributed, often without clear coordination.
In fact, only 12% of organizations report having a centralized AI function, while 41% say ownership is shared and 18% say it’s not clearly defined at all. That reality is enabling speed, but it’s also introducing new risks around visibility, governance, and duplication.
For data and AI leaders, the challenge is no longer just driving adoption. It’s creating enough structure to stay aligned, without slowing teams down.
This Field Report, based on a Data & AI Strategy Board discussion, explores how leaders are adapting their operating models to manage this tension in real time.
Inside, you’ll discover:
- How decentralized AI ownership is changing accountability across product, data, and business teams
- Where “shadow AI” is emerging, and why it’s often a symptom of governance friction
- How teams are embedding AI and data expertise into business units while maintaining alignment
Download the report to understand how your peers are structuring AI ownership, and where to focus as adoption accelerates.
