Executive confidence remains high, but talent shortages and technical debt threaten execution
Canadian companies have ambitious plans for artificial intelligence, but new research suggests many are struggling to translate that momentum into execution.
Reports released this month point to a widening gap between executive confidence and the skills, systems and delivery capacity needed to generate durable value from AI.
Across sectors, leaders are betting heavily on AI as a growth driver, even as talent shortages, technical debt and operational risk threaten to slow progress. The findings highlight a growing tension that AI is fast becoming table stakes for competitiveness, but uneven execution could expose parts of the Canadian economy to higher costs, delayed delivery and erosion of client trust.
IBM’s Institute for Business Value reports that while fewer than half of Canadian executives are optimistic about the global economy, a strong majority are confident in their own organisations’ performance prospects. That confidence is closely tied to sustained investment in AI and expectations that digital capabilities will underpin growth through the decade.
Executives see 2026 as an inflection point in the shift toward AI-first operating models. Canadian C-suite leaders expect AI to contribute meaningfully to revenue by 2030 and plan sharp increases in related investment over the next four years. They also anticipate significant changes in workforce composition, with many existing skills becoming less relevant as AI tools are embedded across operations.
Concerns around “AI sovereignty” are growing as companies seek to reduce dependence on computing infrastructure concentrated in a small number of global regions and retain control over data, risk and regulatory exposure. At the same time, consumer tolerance for opaque AI use remains low: most Canadians say their trust in a brand would decline if it deliberately concealed how it uses AI.
While AI strategy is advancing rapidly in boardrooms, execution is running into a familiar constraint on the ground – people.
A survey of 1,500 hiring managers by Robert Half Canada finds that nearly six in 10 Canadian businesses report skills gaps in their departments, with a similar share saying those gaps have widened over the past year. Only a small minority believe they have both the talent and headcount needed to complete their most critical initiatives.
The shortages span functions central to financial performance and risk management, including finance and accounting, technology, legal, marketing and human resources. Pressure is particularly acute in financial planning and analysis, data analytics, AI and machine learning, and governance and compliance related to new technologies.
For many organisations, especially mid-sized firms without the scale of global peers, the result is a growing backlog of strategically important automation, analytics and AI projects that are difficult to deliver with existing teams.
Although most hiring managers remain optimistic and plan to add staff in the first half of 2026, recruitment itself is becoming more complex. The growing use of generative AI by candidates has made résumés and work samples harder to assess, increasing validation time and slowing hiring decisions.
Info-Tech Research Group’s Applications Priorities 2026 report adds a third constraint: application teams are struggling to keep up with AI ambition.
The firm finds that AI adoption is outpacing many organisations’ ability to modernise application portfolios and delivery practices. Years of accumulated technical debt are reducing throughput and complicating integration of new AI capabilities, while capacity constraints across cloud, SaaS and third-party ecosystems are creating friction as teams attempt to support more personalised and automated experiences.
“AI is accelerating faster than the preparations of most applications practices,” says Andrew Kum-Seun, research director at Info-Tech. Organisations that focus narrowly on pilots or tools, he argues, will struggle to sustain results. Those that strengthen delivery fundamentals and deliberately integrate AI into roles, workflows and architectures will be better positioned to generate consistent value.
Info-Tech outlines four priorities for 2026, including embedding proven AI into core delivery activities, treating AI as a team member in how work is organised, using data and AI to create more contextual digital experiences, and enabling broader process automation across business units.
For Canadian firms juggling limited budgets, legacy systems and rising stakeholder expectations, failure to address technical debt and governance could amplify operational risk—particularly as regulators and clients raise expectations around AI reliability, data protection and transparency.
Taken together, the three reports suggest 2026 will be a defining year for how Canadian businesses convert AI momentum into measurable outcomes. Executive confidence is high, but it is being tested by tight labour markets, rapid technological change and evolving expectations from customers, regulators and investors.
