Jo Debecker on Forbes: Innovation Is the New Measure of Digital Transformation

AI can no longer sit on the edge of the enterprise as a series of pilots — writing for Forbes Technology Council, President and CEO Jo Debecker on why trust, not technology, is now the real blocker to scaling AI.

3 minutes

30th of July, 2026

Declining executive confidence in AI strategies despite rising investments


The Year of Less Is More

Akkodis President and CEO Jo Debecker writes that organizations will do less with AI in 2026 but need to go all in on what they pursue — AI can no longer sit on the edge of the enterprise as a productivity tool or a series of pilots. Drawing on Akkodis' "What CTOs Think" research, he notes CTO confidence in scaling AI has fallen to 48% in 2026 from 82% in 2024, a decline he attributes not to doubts in AI's capability but to whether it can scale in a business context. Just 36% of CTOs are satisfied with workforce trust in their organization's AI direction — and closing that gap, Debecker argues, means giving people visibility into where human control points sit and who remains accountable.

 

The main issue in scaling AI is trust.

— Jo Debecker, President & CEO, Akkodis

Read the full Forbes article