Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning , Next-Generation Technologies & Secure Development , Professional Certifications & Continuous Training

Artificial intelligence use has moved faster than many organizations' ability to measure, monitor and control it, according to ISACA's 2026 AI Pulse Poll, said Jenai Marinkovic, vice president, CEO and board chair, GRCIE, and member, ISACA Emerging Trends Working Group.

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In the survey of more than 3,400 digital trust professionals, 90% of respondents said employees are using AI, but only 22% said AI return on investment has met or exceeded expectations. Marinkovic said one of the most common answers in the survey was some version of "I don't know," including responses from audit, risk and governance professionals whose roles depend on visibility into organizational controls.

"This is not a knowledge gap. It's an observability gap," Marinkovic said.

That gap appears across AI governance and operations. Thirty-nine percent of digital trust professionals didn't know whether their organization has a documented process to shut down or override AI systems when problems occur. Fifty-six percent don't know how quickly they could halt AI after a security incident.

On the ROI question, 65% gave uncertain answers including "too early to tell," "don't know" or "no measurement yet." Marinkovic said organizations have deployed AI faster than they have built the ability to see it. The next 12 months should focus on instrumentation that helps governance teams answer these questions with confidence.

In this video interview with ISMG, Marinkovic also discussed:

• Why many organizations still can't measure AI ROI;
• Gaps in AI shutdown and incident response readiness;
• The growing AI observability gap.

Marinkovic is a 25-year cybersecurity veteran, executive advisor and president of GRC for the Intelligent Ecosystems Foundation. Founder of the award-winning NextCISO Academy, she has built more than 40 cybersecurity organizations across advanced manufacturing, critical infrastructure, healthcare, entertainment and finance. Inventor of ISACA's AI Audit Toolkit, Marinkovic pioneers AI security, supply chain resilience, cyber physical, space-weather-aware systems and cognitive governance, governing not just what intelligent systems do, but what they believe.