Most enterprises are locked into AI systems they cannot easily change, and the overwhelming majority do not fully understand their own AI dependencies, a new global study warns. The findings elevate AI sovereignty from a technical concern to a business continuity issue.
The Calculus of AI Sovereignty study, from the IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with Oxford Economics, surveyed 1,000 senior executives across 16 countries and 17 industries between February and April 2026. Respondents were responsible for AI, data, technology or related enterprise capabilities. The full study is available at https://ibm.biz/ai-sovereignty.
Some 71 per cent of respondents say switching their primary AI vendor or model would be difficult. A further 68 per cent say meeting data residency and sovereignty requirements across geographies is challenging.
Visibility is the sharper problem. Ninety-one per cent say they do not fully understand their organisation's dependencies across AI vendors, models and infrastructure, limiting their ability to assess risk and plan for disruption. Leaders report an average of six AI-related disruptions over the past two years, largely driven by vendor services. Even so, 81 per cent say a seven-day vendor outage would still cause severe or critical disruption.
"AI has introduced new forms of dependency that evolve faster than traditional governance, procurement, or technology cycles were designed to handle," said Ana Paula Assis, IBM Senior Vice President and Chair, EMEA and APAC, in the study foreword. "Any loss of control can translate directly into margin pressure, compliance exposure, or outright business disruption."
Organisations that design AI systems to adapt data, models and infrastructure as conditions change are outperforming peers. The analysis found those with the most advanced AI control capabilities see less AI downtime and protect 55 per cent more operating profit from AI-driven disruptions. Only 7 per cent of organisations surveyed operate at that level.
Cost tolerance for flexibility is notable. Seventy-two per cent of executives say they would accept a 20 per cent cost increase to maintain AI vendors if it improved strategic flexibility.
While 73 per cent describe their AI environments as intentionally multi-vendor, the study suggests diversity is driven less by deliberate strategy than by independent business unit decisions (69 per cent), geographic necessity (69 per cent) and legacy complexity (57 per cent).