74% of C-Suite Executives Have Overstated Their AI Strategy Confidence, Survey Finds

A new survey from AI consulting firm KUNGFU.AI and Wakefield Research reveals that nearly three-quarters of senior executives have projected more confidence in their company's AI strategy than they actually felt—a sign of the mounting pressure leaders face to appear decisive while navigating deep uncertainty.

The survey polled 300 U.S. C-level executives at companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue, conducted between April 30 and May 12, 2026.

Key Findings

• 74% of executives say they have overstated confidence in their AI strategy to internal and external audiences
• 99% report their organization has rebuilt or significantly changed its AI strategy within the past 24 months
• 79% say they would fundamentally change how they invested in AI if they could start over
• 67% believe their current business model may no longer be viable by 2029 due to AI-driven disruption
• 88% said governance, risk, or ethics concerns caused their organization to delay or stop a financially attractive AI initiative
• Nearly four in five said quality assurance steps had been shortened or skipped during AI implementation to move faster

KUNGFU.AI co-founder Stephen Straus described the finding as a reflection of how complex this period is for leaders: organizations are moving fast on AI while simultaneously unsure of the right direction. Executives ranked competitive strategy, ROI, and governance as their top priorities over basic AI use cases.

The full survey findings are available at KUNGFU.AI's Wayfinding Report.

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