The Readiness Tipping Point

AI and geopolitical uncertainty are upending business and tech conventions.

Organizations are at a crucial tipping point. Tip one way, and they can turn potential roadblocks into differentiators—navigating patchwork regulations with agility, scaling AI pilots for impact, and inspiring employees with a clear vision for the future that builds trust. Tip the other way and risk falling behind.

New research from Kyndryl combines the insights of 3,700 leaders from 21 countries with data from Kyndryl Bridge, the company’s AI-powered business platform, to show the real-world IT and workforce strategies that get businesses ready for the future.

More than two-thirds (68%) are investing "heavily" in some form of AI, whether that’s agentic, generative, or machine learning, and they have diverse goals for their pilot projects, from increased revenue to customer satisfaction to operational efficiency and more. They also struggle to align business, technology, and finance teams on the overall vision.

The top three challenges to scale AI projects are complexity integrating with existing IT, talent shortages, and regulation constraints.

Every sector sees change coming, yet most are slowed by legacy systems, security gaps, and cultural inertia. Telecom and tech report an abundance of pilot projects likely to stall on execution. Retail’s expectations appear more modest, likely due to fewer but more-targeted use cases. Heavily regulated industries including finance and see more obstacles to scale.

With geopolitical pressures intensifying, leaders are being forced to re-think where and how their data is stored, processed, accessed, and secured.

Widespread cloud adoption unlocked tremendous value and ability to scale. Leaders are now reporting new challenges from past IT decisions and a fast-changing regulatory landscape. Organizations are racing to shore up their cloud and data strategies to meet the needs of a more regulated, more divided world. 

The most-ready organizations—pacesetters—pair strong vision with the investment and adaptability to act on it. Followers trail them, followed by the laggards. Pacesetters are 32 points less likely to say their tech stack delays innovation, and 20 points less likely to have experienced a cyber-related outage in the past year vs. the laggards.

As organizations advance, their challenges evolve. Pacesetters grapple with the complexity of integrating and scaling advanced technologies—a sign of maturity rather than weakness.

The Kyndryl Readiness Report is based on a global survey of 3,700 senior leaders across 21 countries. Half of respondents are C-suite executives; half are senior directors and business unit leaders who influence technology investment decisions. The sample is evenly split between business and technology leaders. Half of respondents represent companies with $1 billion or more in annual revenue. The survey was conducted by Edelman DXI on behalf of Kyndryl via online survey and telephone interview between June 20 and August 15, 2025.

Kyndryl Bridge uses operational data, IP and embedded AI to provide observability across an enterprise's entire IT estate. More than 1,200 enterprises are on the platform, which delivers 12 million AI-driven insights monthly. Data in this report represents metrics from August 2025 or by a three-month rolling average from June through August 2025.

Explore readiness insights by industry. You'll learn how your industry is working to grow returns from AI investments, modernize infrastructure, scale innovation, reskill workforces, and manage risk in an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.