IBM Study Finds 80% of EMEA Firms Face AI Incidents
IBM reports that 80% of enterprises in Europe and the Middle East faced AI-related incidents reaching executive levels in the past year.
A study by IBM involving 3,221 senior executives across eight European and Middle Eastern countries found that 80% of enterprises in the region experienced an AI-related incident that reached their board or C-suite within the last year. Despite the frequency of these events, only 40% of these organizations updated their AI governance policies in response.
The research reveals a significant readiness gap regarding agentic AI. While 75% of respondents expect AI agents to possess decision-making autonomy by 2027, only 37% believe their current governance frameworks are designed to scale with such a deployment. Additionally, 56% of executives admit to proceeding with AI deployment within agreed risk limits even when the rollout outpaces governance readiness.
Drivers for governance investment vary by region. In the European Union, executives are accelerating investments to meet the EU AI Act's 2027 obligations, while sector regulators drive progress in the United Kingdom. In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, national AI strategies are the primary catalysts. Ana Paula Assis, Senior Vice President and Chair of EMEA and APAC at IBM, stated that AI governance has evolved from a compliance exercise into a business requirement and value enabler.
