When AI gets it wrong, who answers? Bridging the ‘confidence gap’ for tech-enabled transformation

Ask AI why it exists and it will tell you it was developed to enable machines to perform ‘human-like intellectual tasks’ including reasoning, learning and problem-solving.

We seek out AI to help find answers: sometimes to questions that we already have; other times to surface those we haven’t yet imagined.

But in recent times, it seems AI is generating just as many questions for us as it is answering.

There are the functional questions: Where does AI add value? When do we as humans need to take the lead? How much is too much? And who is responsible if something goes wrong?

And then there are the bigger questions – around governance, ethics, copyright and perhaps the biggest one of all: what would happen if it all disappeared tomorrow?

In the context of a business environment which is ever more ambiguous, how do organisations seek to answer these questions, navigating the complexities of AI-driven change to capture the opportunities new technologies bring without falling victim to the potential pitfalls?

The answer lies in developing leaders who are not only AI-literate but have the confidence to blaze a trail, being comfortable in ambiguity, resilient in the face of difficulty, and possessing the operational knowledge and ‘big picture’ strategic vision that makes change possible.

At Cranfield School of Management, we are helping organisations to do just that through our Executive MBA, a wide-ranging leadership development experience that equips future leaders with all the capabilities they need to succeed in increasingly complex environments – including navigating AI-driven change.

AI in business: What do the statistics say?

New research published this month by IBM surveyed more than 3,200 senior executives working in Europe and the Middle East. The study found three quarters (75%) expected AI agents to have some autonomy over decisions within their organisations by 2027.

Anecdotally, we know the technology has developed rapidly: AI is available, accessible and commercially scalable. The technology now proliferates our personal and professional lives, with its as-yet-untapped potential perhaps already capable of reaching far beyond its original intent, if recent news reports and warnings from big tech bosses are anything to go by.

Most organisations have moved beyond the question of ‘do we or don’t we?’, embracing, encouraging and actively developing their AI use.

But studies show many may not yet be adequately prepared for the realities of a future with AI.

Almost all (98%) of the organisations IBM surveyed had assigned responsibility for AI risk to their board, but less than half (37%) were confident their governance was ready to scale with the technology. A worrying 80% reported an AI-related incident in the past year.

In EY’s 2026 AI Risk and Governance Survey, more than a quarter (26%) of respondents using agentic AI said their organisation was unable to detect unauthorised agents operating internally and over a third (36%) said their organisation had experienced an AI incident or failure leading to data or financial loss, operational disruption, or reputational damage.

Building AI agency and ownership: four key questions to answer right now

It seems a gap is emerging, and that is giving organisations cause to pause. We’re seeing caution, a lack of confidence, hesitation to scale. Recent negative headlines play their part, but they don’t tell the whole story.

What is holding organisations back from progressing with AI isn’t the technology itself, or concerns about where it might lead; it is their leadership capability.

Executives are not yet equipped to answer four crucial questions. Who ‘owns’ each AI tool and agent? What can agents decide without a human? Who is accountable when an agent gets something wrong? And how would anyone know an error had occurred in the first place?

In order to answer these, we have to develop leaders who not only understand how AI works in practice but are equipped with the confidence and wider business skills needed to steer their organisations into AI futures – whatever they may look like.

There are no definitive answers, but the most successful leaders in the coming years will be those that can be comfortable with this ambiguity and uncertainty, understanding that the answers to key questions around AI will tend to evolve over time and that their strategies need to evolve with them.

The rewards for those who get it right are clear: competitive advantage, consumer confidence, reputational gain. EY’s report argues that: “Organisations that close [the] confidence gap will be better positioned to move quickly, without losing control, and to pair AI ambition with accountability, evidence and trust.”

Developing senior leaders in the age of AI: the Cranfield Executive MBA

At Cranfield, we believe that closing the AI confidence gap is a leadership development imperative, and it’s one that we’re working to help organisations solve.

This year, we’ve added a new module to our established Executive MBA, entitled AI Leadership and Business Transformation.

In it, we move beyond the basics of what senior leaders need to understand about AI, focusing on how organisations can structure ownership, capability and governance so the technology can be deployed responsibly at scale. We look at how leaders can align competing functional perspectives and close governance gaps at organisational boundaries, as well as how consequential decisions are made when the landscape is genuinely uncertain.

This addition complements the established programme modules, which develop strategic leadership, organisational transformation, innovation, finance, operations, responsible management and decision-making in complex environments.

Learning focuses on embedding strategic perspective, tolerance of change, resilience, board-ready thinking, and the ability to influence at the highest level, drive organisational transformation and create meaningful impact.

An international business assignment gives participants an opportunity to place their learning in the context of a global perspective by visiting a foreign country, while the strategic business project enables knowledge gained to be applied to a challenge or opportunity that directly benefits their own . In addition, the business consulting project provides participants with the opportunity to work on a real-world organisational issue, developing practical problem-solving, analytical and consulting skills while delivering actionable recommendations.

Our focus on the Executive MBA has always been to develop forward-looking leaders who are self-aware, market-aware and future-aware, to prepare them to move to the next level in their organisation.

As AI and other emerging technologies continue to reshape competitive dynamics, value creation and decision-making, it has never been more important that organisations have Board-ready leaders equipped with robust approaches to governance, risk and ethics, empowered to navigate uncertainty and make informed strategic trade-offs, and possessing the ability to combine long-term scenario thinking with practical organisational and business model redesign.

Organisations that invest in developing these skills will be well positioned for the future, whatever it may bring.

The Cranfield Executive MBA is designed for experienced professionals ready to move from functional leadership to enterprise leadership. Organisations that sponsor leaders through the programme benefit from stronger strategic execution, greater transformation capability, data-driven decision-making, an enhanced leadership pipeline, improved cross-functional collaboration, strong governance and risk oversight, and sustainable long-term performance.

Interested in finding out more? Talk to us about sponsoring a leader from your organisation.