Who owns AI risk at work? Business and tech leaders can’t agree, PwC survey finds

PwC released its Digital Trust Insights 2027 report on Friday, surveying approximately 4,000 business and tech leaders across 71 countries. The research found that no single role has clear responsibility for managing agentic AI or its security, according to the survey.

Respondents disagreed on where accountability should sit. About 29% of CEOs and security and risk leaders said it belongs with the CIO, CTO, or a similar technology role. Another 17% said responsibility lies with the CISO or cybersecurity teams, while 26% said it should stay with a dedicated AI leader or AI function. An additional 11% said accountability is unclear, with responsibility shared across multiple roles or functions.

On broader governance, 47% of those surveyed said cybersecurity is a standing agenda item for boards. About a third of organizations (33%) have recognized the need for accountability and hired for dedicated AI roles, including AI chief officers and AI board members. Nine out of 10 business leaders said practices such as board oversight, executive accountability, and enterprise risk integration are now in place.

Jim Taylor, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at RSA, told ZDNET that the same identity controls used to secure human users for decades should be applied to manage agentic AI. He said each AI model or agentic deployment has an identity linked to credentials, with varying access levels, and suggested a centralized platform could register sanctioned AI agents, each tied to a human owner who personally authorizes high-risk actions. Taylor also suggested organizations apply governance controls mapped to industry frameworks and evaluate AI agents frequently, decommissioning them when no longer needed.

"Companies will keep investing in AI, but they've brought on workers they don't see and can't control," Taylor said. "Those agents won't be held in compliance violations -- but the organization will. If they do deploy agents, then they'll need the means to keep them secure."