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- 🔍 CIOs urged to cut through 'agentic AI' hype as vendors oversell capabilities
🔍 CIOs urged to cut through 'agentic AI' hype as vendors oversell capabilities
Agentic AI Skepticism, Employee Pushback on GenAI, Structured AI Adoption Insights from Nextdoor's Shyam Bhojwani
Aimply Team & Zack Tembi
July 29, 2025
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Welcome to this week’s edition of CIOsurge!
This week:
Analysts warn CIOs to critically evaluate vendor claims around "agentic AI," with over 40% of projects expected to fail by 2027.
Employee resistance threatens enterprise generative AI strategies, highlighting the need for clear communication and inclusive adoption plans.
Nextdoor's Shyam Bhojwani advocates a disciplined, phased approach to AI implementation, emphasizing foundational integrity for lasting value.
Let’s make this week a game-changer.
Stay sharp. Stay ahead.
đź’ˇ Guest Expert Insights: Shyam Bhojwani
🚀 Effective AI Adoption Requires Discipline and Structure
Another important insight Shyam shared is the need for discipline when adopting AI. He cautioned that many leaders rush into AI without adequately addressing foundational issues such as data integrity, structured processes, or defined business outcomes. This often results in short-term gains but fails to deliver lasting value.
Shyam advocates a structured, phased approach: first optimizing underlying data, then building robust automation capabilities, followed by targeted AI implementations, and finally advancing towards sophisticated orchestration. Each step creates a stable foundation for subsequent enhancements.
This measured approach prevents superficial successes and ensures AI deployments create tangible, enduring value aligned closely with long-term business objectives.
🔍 CIOs urged to cut through 'agentic AI' hype as vendors oversell capabilities
CIOs are navigating confusion and inflated vendor claims surrounding "agentic AI," an emerging category promising AI systems capable of persistent memory and autonomous action. Analysts caution that definitions remain unclear, solutions immature, and many vendors are overstating current capabilities. Gartner expects over 40% of agentic AI projects to fail by 2027 due to rising costs and unclear business value, urging CIOs to rigorously validate vendor claims.
We’ve seen it before: vendors rush to market with half-baked tech wrapped in compelling narratives. With agentic AI, the stakes are especially high—CIOs need a skeptical eye and clear frameworks to separate genuine advancements from marketing buzz. Push your vendors to define exactly what they mean by "agent," demand transparency on interoperability and security, and insist on real-world demonstrations.
But skepticism shouldn’t translate into avoidance. Despite today’s inflated promises, agentic AI’s potential to reshape operations is real. The key for CIOs is balancing caution with strategic experimentation—protecting your organization from hype-driven failures while staying ready to capitalize as the technology matures.
- Zack Tembi
🤖 Employee pushback threatens generative AI adoption
A survey reveals 31% of employees—and 41% of millennial and Gen Z workers—admit to undermining their company’s generative AI strategy. Resistance ranges from intentional misuse to outright refusal, often motivated by fears that AI threatens their jobs. Analysts argue that clear communication, inclusive planning, and transparent upskilling strategies are essential to mitigate pushback and prevent sabotage.
No CIO should be shocked by these numbers. When leaders tout AI primarily as a cost-cutting tool, employees naturally push back. The key isn’t forcing adoption—it’s creating buy-in through clarity, transparency, and genuine support for impacted roles.
This means being upfront about how AI affects workflows, clearly communicating how workers fit into this future, and proactively addressing anxieties. If the workforce sees AI as empowerment rather than replacement, you'll get fewer saboteurs and stronger AI outcomes.
- Zack Tembi
🗞️ At A Glance
đź’ˇ CIO Spotlights
Southern Company appoints Hans Brown as EVP and Chief Information Technology Officer
Hans Brown joins Southern Company as EVP & CITO, tasked with driving digital transformation and technology innovation.
Brown previously led significant tech initiatives at BNY Mellon, including enterprise platform modernization and fintech-driven innovations.
CEO Chris Womack highlights Brown’s expertise in integrating emerging tech as key to Southern Company's strategic evolution.
Hackensack Meridian Health taps Dr. Joel Klein as Chief Digital Information Officer
Hackensack Meridian Health appoints Joel Klein, M.D., as chief digital information officer to drive healthcare innovation and AI adoption.
Klein, previously CIO at University of Maryland Medical System, will oversee key enterprise initiatives, including EHR enhancement and ERP implementation.
CEO Robert Garrett emphasizes Klein’s dual expertise as a physician and tech leader as critical to accelerating digital transformation.