Digitalization as a CIO Matter: The Costly DACH Reflex

20.06.2026

6 Min. Read Time

During the board meeting, implementing AI seems to naturally fall under IT. This is how responsibility is distributed in 70 percent of DACH companies, while in the US, it mostly lies with the CEO. This difference determines whether technology becomes a business model or just another project.

Key Takeaways

Responsibility lies with IT: In DACH, CIOs and IT management lead AI implementation, with 70 percent reporting this according to Horváth. In the US, it mostly lies with the CEO.
Technology over strategy: The strong IT focus brings implementation speed but carries the risk that business value and new models take a backseat.
Hardly anyone measures value: Less than half of companies regularly assess the value contribution of digitalization. Budgets still rise, with 67 percent increasing them by an average of 30 percent.

What the Numbers Reveal About Responsibility

What is digital responsibility? It describes who in the company holds the reins of digitalization and AI implementation, i.e., whether the CIO, IT management, or top-level management decides on direction, pace, and value contribution. Where this responsibility lies has a greater impact than it initially seems.

The Horváth Digital Value Study 2026 surveyed over 200 board members and digital responsibility holders from seven countries. One number stands out. In Germany and Austria, seven out of ten companies assign AI implementation responsibility to the CIO or IT management. In the US, more than half of respondents place the same task under the CEO.

This may seem like an organizational detail. It’s a directional decision. When digitalization is placed under IT, it’s treated as a technical task with clear responsibilities and deadlines. When it’s assigned to top-level management, it’s treated as a business model question. Both approaches have their logic, but they lead to different outcomes.

70 %

DACH companies assign AI implementation to CIO or IT management. In the US, responsibility mostly lies with the CEO and thus closer to strategy.

Source: Horváth Digital Value Study 2026

Why the IT Reflex Comes at a Cost

The obvious objection is: what’s wrong with letting professionals handle digitalization? Nothing, as long as the question of business value isn’t overlooked. This is precisely where the study’s findings come in. The strong IT focus in the DACH region carries the risk that business value and new business models take a backseat. The technology is built cleanly, but whether it changes the business often remains untested.

This is evident from a second figure. Less than half of the surveyed companies regularly evaluate the value contribution of their digitalization measures. At the same time, 67 percent have increased their digital budgets for 2026, on average by 30 percent, and a growing portion of this is flowing directly into AI projects, around a third of investments. More money is being spent on less effectiveness control.

When a project is managed by deadline and budget, a project is delivered. Whether it has generated revenue, margin, or a new offering is a different story. In the IT-driven logic, the instance that asks this second question is often missing.

An example illustrates this. A machine builder introduces an AI-supported quality inspection, technically sound, on schedule, and within budget. After a year, the system runs stably and is considered a success because it’s running. Whether the scrap rate has actually decreased or whether sales could derive a new service promise from it has not been accounted for in project management. The project was completed, but the business value remained an open assumption. This is exactly the gap the study refers to when the majority of companies don’t systematically measure the value contribution.

Board team in a strategy meeting discussing documents — The board decides who asks the value question. *Image: Pexels / Vlada Karpovich*

What Speaks in Favor of IT Leadership

The counterposition deserves an honest treatment; otherwise, observation turns into lecturing. There are good reasons why digitalization in the DACH region lies with IT. The implementation competence is there, the system landscape is complex, and a CEO without a technical foundation rarely makes architectural decisions better than an experienced CIO. Speed and clean implementation are real advantages.

Additionally, there is a structural reason. In many DACH companies, digitalization has historically grown out of the IT department, not out of a business strategy. Responsibility follows competence, and it has long been located in the engine room. This is not a wrong decision but a grown reality. It only becomes a problem when the organization treats the AI wave with the same reflex as server virtualization fifteen years ago, as a pure infrastructure question without its own business logic.

No one needs to shift responsibility. It’s enough to ask the strategic question beyond the IT boundary. A CIO who demands business value as consistently as system stability beats any formal debate on responsibility. The US variant doesn’t have a better CIO; it just has a different person asking about business benefits.

What CIOs Can Change in the Next 90 Days

The study provides the leverage right along with it. If less than half measure the value contribution, the first task is to introduce a measurement in the first place. What is meant is an honest question per initiative, no controlling ritual: What business value was promised, and what actually materialized?

Concretely, there are three steps in a quarter.

Three Steps for the Next Quarter

Define a business target metric. For the three largest digital projects, define one metric each that is not technical, but describes revenue, margin, or a specific offer.

Assign an owner outside of IT. Assign the target metric to someone responsible who is not from technology, so the value question gets an owner.

Show value contribution in the board review. In the next review, do not just report the project status, but present the realized business value alongside the planned one.

These steps shift the discussion from deadline and budget to impact, and thus the DACH practice moves closer to the strategic view that is more common in the US.

None of these measures require a new organizational chart. They just need someone who asks the uncomfortable question before the budget for the next year is approved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the 70 percent figure come from?

From the Horváth Digital Value Study 2026, for which more than 200 board members and digital decision-makers from seven countries were surveyed. In DACH, around 70 percent name the CIO or IT management as responsible for AI implementation.

Is IT responsibility fundamentally a mistake?

No. IT brings implementation expertise and speed. The risk only arises when no one asks the question about business value and digitalization is treated as a purely technical task.

Why is the US variant different?

In the US, digitalization is more often located at the CEO level and thus more closely linked to the company’s strategy. This does not improve technology, but ensures that business benefits remain part of the steering.

What does this mean for rising digital budgets?

67 percent of companies have increased their budget for 2026, on average by 30 percent. Without regular value measurement, the risk increases that more money does not lead to more impact.

Where do I start as a CIO?

With measurement. For the largest projects, define a non-technical target metric, assign it to someone responsible outside of IT, and show the value contribution instead of just the project status in the board review.