Acuvera Tech CEO: CEOs Need an AI Strategy

Acuvera Tech CEO and Chairman Shiv Kaushik says CEOs need to consider the level and effectiveness of their company’s AI governance if they want to accelerate innovation and avoid potential catastrophe from unregulated frameworks.

In an article for Forbes, Shiv discusses how risk management around AI and its potential negative consequences have become a defining leadership challenge for 2026.

He says that AI has moved from the experimental stage to serving as the operational backbone of modern enterprise software and infrastructure, adding that decisions about credit approvals, supply chain routing, customer interactions and employee performance are increasingly made by AI systems.

“There is a question I hear from fellow executives with increasing frequency: ‘We have AI running in our business—who is responsible if something goes wrong?’ The uncomfortable truth is that in most organisations, nobody has a clear answer,” Shiv says.

Dispelling industry myths

Shiv references McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey, citing its findings that 28% of organisations report that their CEO takes direct responsibility for AI governance oversight and only 17% say their board does.

In comparison, nearly half of organisations are experiencing at least one significant negative consequence from AI use. Shiv adds these results suggest that “the costs of ungoverned deployment are no longer theoretical”.

He also highlights the World Economic Forum’s 2026 research on effective AI governance and how it helps dispel the “myth in executive circles that governance slows innovation”, saying the study proves that “without sound governance, AI initiatives fragment”.

“[AI Initiatives] get stuck in data silos, incomplete processes, undefined roles and duplication of effort. Governance provides the traction for acceleration, not the brake,” Shiv adds.

A CEO-level AI governance framework

Shiv goes on to propose a practical system for CEO-level AI governance, saying the framework doesn’t require new bureaucracy, it needs a refined focus on ownership measurement and integration.

• Ownership – Algorithms, vendors and technical teams are not solely responsible for AI outcomes, business leaders must be accountable for how AI is used and how decisions are made
• Measurement – Leaders must establish AI-specific KPIs otherwise pilots cannot be used to make the case for enterprise-wide investment
• Integration – AI should be woven into existing enterprise risk management frameworks rather than creating parallel shadow structures

How AI is reshaping enterprise operations

Discussing the 2024 EU AI Act – an act that establishes regulatory and legal framework for AI within the European Union – Shiv says the regulatory environment is rapidly narrowing the options for executives who prefer to move at their own pace.

The act requires organisations implementing high-risk AI to meet documentation, risk management and human oversight requirements by August 2026 and that similar frameworks are currently taking shape across North America and Asia-Pacific.

Discussing the urgency of companies to meet these deadlines and also keep pace with technological changes, Shiv says: “Organisations that build governance frameworks now, before compliance deadlines force them to, will have a meaningful advantage: their systems will be audit-ready, their teams will understand accountability and their AI investments will compound rather than stall.”

He adds that companies do not need to implement a multi-year transformation programme, they need to: assess their AI maturity and identify gaps between current governance and what regulators expect to see; manage the AI and its risks at the executive level; and establish documented processes and paths for what happens when the AI model makes a mistake.

“AI is already reshaping how enterprises operate. The question is no longer whether to deploy it, but whether you are leading it or being led by it,” Shiv says.

“CEOs who build governance into their AI strategy today are not slowing down their organisations. They are building the foundation for AI that scales, earns trust and delivers durable value.”