: Digital Value – How AI and Digital Transformation Finally Pay Off

67 percent of respondents have increased their digitalization budget for 2026 – by an average of 30 percent. One in ten companies is not planning any changes, and 18 percent are reducing their budget.

Overall, around half of the companies surveyed state that they do not have a current, comprehensive digitalization strategy with clear objectives. This reveals a significant strategy gap: while 76 percent of the "top 55" companies state that they had a "dedicated, current, and comprehensive digitalization strategy with clear goals for all areas," meaning that this is virtually the standard for them, the majority of the remaining companies showed insufficient coverage (only 44 percent had a mature digital strategy).

Also regarding challenges, there is a clear difference between the top 55 companies and the rest: successful companies are more aware of the practical challenges—and identify them more clearly.

In 46 percent of the companies surveyed, the CIO or IT management has primary responsibility for digitalization. The strong involvement of CEOs in the US (52 percent) shows that digitalization is clearly anchored in strategy, in contrast to Germany, where it is primarily the responsibility of the CIO (70 percent). The remaining percentage points are distributed among other corporate functions, such as CFO, COO, and CDO.

In line with the distribution of responsibilities, achieving digitalization goals is most often part of CIOs' and IT managers' personal objectives (58 percent). In 46 percent of cases, the CEO is incentivized, and in 31 percent of cases, the chief digital officer.

Overall, digitalization champions have implemented success-critical framework conditions significantly more often.