AI & AUTOMATION AI users report pain points and challenges; advisors better know them By Martin Vilaboy Avoiding AI’s Disillusionment AI technologies might force a rethinking of some longstanding assumptions about technology maturation and adoption. Even though generative AI technologies have largely started their slide toward the “trough of disillusionment” on the famed Gartner hype cycle, while agentic AI likewise has pushed past its “peak of inflated expectations,” there doesn’t appear to be the expected amount of disillusionment around AI adoption. Indeed, despite research and reports of bubbles, gaps and pilots failing to takeoff toward implementations, surveys suggest C-suites, board rooms and IT decision-makers are full steam ahead when it comes to AI investments. According to a recently released report from Accenture, for example, 86 percent of C-suite leaders plan to increase AI investment in 2026. Nearly the same percentage (78 percent) said they now see AI as more beneficial to revenue growth than cost reduction, up from 65 percent who said the same in June 2024. Even if the proverbial “AI bubble were to burst,” a significant percentage of executives said they would increase their spending on AI. “AI remains the centerpiece of 2026 investment strategies,” said Accenture analysts. In other words, business leadership is not dissuaded by the reality that fewer employees said they regularly work with AI agents, according to Accenture findings, down to 32 percent in January 2026 compared to 42 percent in 2025. Similarly, they are not disillusioned by the increasing number of employees who said they’ve “used or tested AI agents but don’t work with them regularly,” from 36 percent in January of last year to 43 percent this recent January. “The positivity reverberating across the C-suite does not align with what their workforce is experiencing, even though talent is the primary accelerator of AI scale,” Accenture researchers noted. 16 CHANNELVISION | WINTER 2026
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTg4Njc=