How AI is reshaping the higher ed CIO agenda

This spring, EAB convened over 50 higher education chief information officers in Washington, D.C. for the 2026 Executive Roundtable for CIOs. Attendees engaged with EAB experts and peers on the headwinds facing higher education, the evolving role of the CIO, and redesigning the IT organization in an age of AI disruption.

While discussions were wide-ranging, CIOs consistently returned to a common set of priorities: funding AI amid growing costs, communicating IT’s resource needs to the cabinet, scaling AI, and rethinking governance for a more complex technology environment.

Read on for four takeaways from the event.

IT budgets are losing ground to AI and vendor costs

While 33% of institutions posted structural deficits in 2024–2025 (according to EAB analysis of IPEDS FY24 data), 42% of IT budgets increased, and 20% remained flat. Yet, CIOs expressed frustration with unpredictable, skyrocketing technology costs, which have only become more variable and subscription-based with cloud-based services and AI. As a result, even rising IT budgets can amount to a cut as costs grow.

These budget pressures highlight the shortcomings of IT’s traditional CapEx-over-OpEx funding model. Annual, project-based IT funding limits IT’s ability to enable institutional priorities such as AI. Furthermore, a CapEx-forward approach ignores the reality of annual cloud and license expenditures. Some CIOs shared recent examples of successful partnerships with their chief business officer (CBO) counterparts to develop more flexible and responsive budget models, including approaches that build in recurring refresh costs.

IT’s enablement role still requires clearer resourcing

Across the roundtables, CIOs embraced a range of labels for their evolving role: 

• Chief “nothing gets done without us” officers 
• Chief “yes” officers 
• Chief “demand management” officers

While these labels were raised irreverently, they demonstrate how every AI or operational efficiency initiative requires IT investment and enablement. While cabinet leaders increasingly recognize IT’s enablement role, CIOs are still working to make the scope of that work more visible.

Misconceptions about AI (among other topics) hinder CIOs’ ability to communicate the reality of resourcing demands to other cabinet members. For example, senior leaders often do not grasp that moving from experimentation to scaling AI exponentially increases the resourcing required to manage risks.

As a result, CIOs have started asking leadership to define success before accepting general AI or cost-cutting mandates. Some are also building internal models to quantify and communicate ROI, ranging from potential revenue gains to annual cost savings.

Scaling AI requires new IT operating models

Given the success and proliferation of AI experiments across in-house and vendor solutions, CIOs are focusing on creating structures that can sustainably scale AI enterprise-wide. Roundtable attendees shared they’re already preparing for a future where IT must manage hundreds of AI agents.

CIOs are keenly aware that the risks posed by AI are amplified when moving from pilot to scaled production. Each stage of AI development poses organizational challenges: units often bypass IT during procurement, limited staff expertise can constrain solution development, IT’s capacity may hinder deployment, and units often misunderstand maintenance needs after launch.

EAB shared examples of emerging IT operating models designed to address these challenges and help institutions scale AI more sustainably:

Interested in examining your team structure? Participate in EAB’s IT Organizational Chart Audit.

AI is forcing a rethink of technology governance

As AI changes how colleges and universities operate, some institutions are exploring a more integrated governance model that addresses AI, IT, and data governance together. At the roundtables, CIOs agreed on the need to holistically reevaluate technology governance and noted that new gaps emerge daily. For example, when an existing platform releases AI features, institutions may need to revisit procurement processes and data steward responsibilities.

In response, EAB introduced the idea of federated governance, a flexible model establishing responsibility for overlapping areas of IT, AI, and data governance oversight.

Looking ahead, the IT Strategy Advisory Services research team will continue to explore federated governance and develop support services for our partners throughout 2026.

As AI reshapes the higher ed CIO agenda, IT leaders are under growing pressure to fund new investments, communicate resource needs, redesign operating models, and strengthen governance. For guidance on applying these insights to your institution’s IT strategy, contact your Strategic Leader or [email protected]. If you are not yet an IT Strategy Advisory Services partner, learn more about how EAB helps CIOs navigate today’s shifting technology landscape.

Ann Forman Lippens

Managing Director, Research

Read Bio

• Ann Forman Lippens's LinkedIn page