Most Chief Supply Chain Officers Unclear on AI Investment Returns, Gartner Reports
With 67% of supply chain digital investments now allocated to artificial intelligence, more than half of chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are uncertain about the ROI, according to a recent Gartner survey.
Gartner surveyed 394 supply chain professionals from organizations with annual revenue of at least $250 million, conducted between November 2025 and February 2026, to understand how their organizations allocate digital investments. Gartner also surveyed 125 senior supply chain leaders from January through April 2026 to gather AI use cases and analyze ROI. These findings show that even if organizations are investing heavily in AI, measuring the business impact may still be challenging.
"Organizations are getting better at executing change for individual initiatives," Lorraine Gavin, senior principal analyst in Gartner's supply chain practice, said in a statement. "The bigger challenge today is deciding where to invest limited change management resources so that they support the business outcomes that matter most. AI is making that decision more important than ever."
In the findings, Gartner suggests that the missing piece may be effective change management approaches and proposes a "rightsized" change management strategy to help organizations better align AI plans with broader supply chain and business goals, ensuring resources are directed toward the initiatives most likely to drive impact and ROI.
As AI's popularity continues to surge, Gartner recommends that CSCOs move away from one-size-fits-all approaches and align change investments directly with the outcomes they seek. Gartner also projects that by 2030, organizations that right-size change management efforts in this way will achieve twice the ROI on AI initiatives compared with those relying on traditional methods.
The survey further recommends that CSCOs seeking to improve AI outcomes for their organizations should take the following steps:
Establish a Formal AI Change Strategy
Make AI change management an integral part of your organization’s AI technology strategy to support outcome-driven execution.
Prioritize and Allocate Change Resources Strategically
Treat change management as a scarce resource, and invest in high-value AI initiatives that drive supply chain outcomes and ROI.
Adopt a Composable Approach to Change Execution
Don’t follow a one-size-fits-all model. Adapt the approach to the speed, scale and organizational context of each initiative.
Build AI Change Leadership Capabilities
Develop leaders who can effectively guide AI-enabled transformation by applying their business knowledge, workforce development expertise and risk management capabilities.
