Software Improvement Group publishes new report on the widening AI boardroom gap
Software Improvement Group’s new report examines where AI expectations break down at enterprise scale and what leaders need to understand in 2026 to govern AI responsibly
AMSTERDAM – 16 December 2025 – Software Improvement Group (SIG) has published ‘The AI boardroom gap‘, a report that pinpoints why the gap between AI ambition and reality keeps widening, explains why IT and business need a shared understanding, maps the regulatory landscape, and shares exclusive SIG data and expert insights.
Today, 88% of organizations report using AI technology in at least one business function, and 64% say that AI is enabling their innovation. However, at the enterprise level, the majority are still in the experimenting or piloting stages, and just 39% report EBIT impact— often single-digit percentages.
The ambition is there; the foundations lag.
“Everyone agrees technology runs the business, yet too many organizations still don’t have a clear, end-to-end view needed to steer it. That’s certainly not a new problem, but AI is turning up the speed, the stakes, and the consequences…” – Luc Brandts, CEO of Software Improvement Group.
What’s inside the AI boardroom gap report?
The report contains five concise chapters covering: governance, the global compliance landscape, AI-assisted software development, AI system engineering, and AI-specific security risks.
Key findings
- AI is widespread, but its impact is limited.
Most organizations use AI somewhere, yet few see material enterprise-level returns. - The results are inconsistent.
Productivity outcomes from AI-assisted development range from slowdowns to significant speed-ups. - Human oversight remains essential.
AI can generate large systems, but few run in production without modification — and security risks remain higher than in human-led projects. In a SIG experiment, AI-generated code showed roughly double the security risk violations of comparable human-written code. - AI systems are present, but not dominant
Of all production systems SIG analyzed in 2025, ~1.5% qualify as AI systems, and 72% of AI systems score below SIG’s recommended build-quality threshold. - Boards lack a shared view.
Fragmented regulation and misalignment between business, IT, and risk teams continue to widen the gap.
Why it matters now
As AI adoption accelerates, the gap between ambition and operational readiness widens without governance.
To turn AI into measurable value, enterprises must know what exists, where it runs, who owns it, how it’s controlled— and be able to prove that it’s safe and compliant.
Download the report: The AI boardroom gap: Global insights that turn ambition into control in 2026, here.
About Software Improvement Group
Software Improvement Group (SIG) empowers organizations to govern the software their business runs on. Through complete portfolio analysis and tailored strategic advice, SIG helps companies improve software quality and security by focusing strategic efforts across people, process, and technology.
Sigrid®—SIG’s software governance platform—analyzes over 400 billion lines of code across more than 30,000 systems and 300+ technologies, offering evidence-based insights to help organizations prioritize and manage their most critical IT initiatives.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Amsterdam, SIG has offices in New York, Copenhagen, Brussels, and Frankfurt. The company complies with leading ISO/IEC standards, including 27001 and 17025, and co-developed ISO/IEC 5338—the new global standard for AI lifecycle management.
Combining expert consulting with over 25 years of industry-leading research, SIG is the global authority on software portfolio governance.
For more information, please visit Software Improvement Group‘s website or social media channels.
