What are executives’ levels of AI understanding and acumen?

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Executives show healthy AI understanding, confidence levels

They aren’t called “decision-makers” for nothing. Each day, executives are inundated with decisions big and small, with more and more of those calls likely connected to AI.

Knowledge influences decision-making, so establishing respondents’ familiarity with AI was key to better understanding their priorities, concerns, and decision-making confidence.

Which statement best describes your level of understanding about artificial intelligence?

Expert: I hold a graduate degree in Computer Science, and I have research experience in AI R&D.
Advanced: I have experience implementing AI models from scratch. I am technically fluent in one or more subdomains of AI, such as Machine Learning, Data Mining, or Reinforcement Learning.
Intermediate: I am familiar with the technical aspects of one or more subdomains of AI. I may have implemented an AI system using API calls.
Novice: I have used AI systems, and I have a non-technical understanding of their functioning, such as what they can do, their biases, safety, or limitations.
Fundamental Awareness: I am aware when a software uses AI, but I am not familiar with any technical or non-technical aspects of it, such as biases, safety, or limitations.

Most respondents (43%) assess their understanding of AI as intermediate, and another 37% self-assess as advanced. Only 14% of executives report having an expert understanding of AI. A small percentage of respondents, 6%, consider themselves AI novices.

More CTOs self-assess their level of understanding about AI to be expert (22% of their group), followed by CIOs (18% of their group) and CISOs (4% of their group).

When asked about their confidence when making decisions related to AI, 92% of surveyed executives report being confident or very confident. When broken down by role, nearly half of CTOs (51%) say they are very confident in their decisions, followed by CIOs at 27% and CISOs at 20%.