Companies are racing to deploy AI agents without agreeing on who answers when one goes wrong. That is the finding of PwC’s Digital Trust Insights 2027 report, released October 2, based on a survey of roughly 4,000 business and technology leaders in 71 countries.
Accountability is scattered. When asked where it sits, 29 percent named the CIO, CTO or a similar technology leader, and 26 percent pointed to a dedicated AI leader or function. A further 17 percent said the CISO or cybersecurity team owns it. One in ten respondents said responsibility is simply unclear, shared across roles.
Security lags furthest behind. Only 47 percent said cybersecurity is a standing board agenda item, even as about half of companies told PwC that awareness of AI’s benefits and drawbacks has reached the board.
Hiring has run ahead of governance. Roughly 33 percent of organizations have created dedicated AI roles, such as a chief AI officer or AI board member, but PwC says it is unclear whether those roles carry security and governance duties too.
The report sketches a familiar arc. Citigroup hired the first formal CISO in 1994 to clean up after cyberattacks, and the role soon became standard. PwC floats a parallel in a chief AI security officer, while cautioning that loading the job onto an already stretched CIO or CISO may not work.
