Kyndryl (NYSE:KD) released its third annual Readiness Report on November 10, 2026, revealing that 64% of business leaders report positive returns on AI investments while average readiness for external risks declined seven points to 24%.

Key Highlights

  • AI returns up 10 points: 64% of leaders report positive returns on AI investments, an increase of 10 points from 2025, according to the report.
  • External risk readiness declines: Average readiness for external risks fell to 24%, down 7 points from 2025, with declines reported across all industries and countries surveyed.
  • Cyberattack readiness drops sharply: Just 26% of firms reported being completely ready for cyberattacks, a drop of 11 points from the prior year.
  • Infrastructure gap identified: 71% of leaders rate their IT infrastructure as mostly or fully modernized, yet 66% of CIOs believe their technology foundations require significant re-architecture before being fully ready for AI at scale.
  • AI strategy changes widespread: Nearly half (48%) of organizations substantially changed their AI strategies this year, and about a quarter (24%) saw an AI investment fail.
  • Workforce adaptation lags: Just 27% of organizations have formally updated roles and responsibilities around AI, and only 29% have fully implemented change management for AI adoption.
  • Survey scope: The report captures responses from 3,700 senior business leaders across 21 countries.

Kyndryl's 2026 Data Shows AI Adoption Outpacing Organizational Readiness

Kyndryl's third annual Readiness Report, released November 10, 2026, draws on responses from 3,700 senior business leaders across 21 countries. According to the filing, the central finding is a widening divide between the returns organizations are seeing from AI and their readiness to manage the accompanying risks. While 64% of leaders report positive AI investment returns, up from 54% in 2025, average readiness across external risk categories fell to 24%, down seven points from the prior year.

The report identifies security concerns as the primary driver of declining readiness. For the third consecutive year, security concerns topped the list of external risks. Only 26% of firms said they were completely ready for cyberattacks, an 11-point drop from the previous year. The second-largest readiness decline involved competitive disruption from outside respondents' industries, which fell 10 points to 23%. The report notes that AI agents and new technologies are being deployed in ways that erode established industry boundaries, with specific examples cited including AI shopping assistants affecting retailer-customer relationships and AI reshaping software SaaS business models.

On workforce readiness, the report discloses that organizations with both formally updated roles and fully implemented change management are 28 points more likely to be completely ready for their AI implementation, and 8 points more likely to report positive ROI on AI investments. Regarding infrastructure, the report notes that 71% of leaders describe their IT estate as mostly or fully modernized, yet two-thirds of CIOs surveyed believe their technology foundations need significant re-architecture before being fully ready for AI at scale. On digital sovereignty, the report states that 68% of leaders say solutions offering full operational control are worth a premium of 10% or more, and 60% say greater control is worth slower deployment of advanced capabilities.

What Was Disclosed

Kyndryl released its third annual Readiness Report, disclosing survey data from 3,700 senior business leaders across 21 countries on AI investment returns, risk readiness, infrastructure modernization, workforce adaptation, and digital sovereignty considerations for the 2026 period.