CIOs can be swept up in the excitement of new technologies. Here, IT leaders share their views on which technologies are likely to fail.
Any CIO will tell that the pace of technological changes has been increasing for years.
As a result, a number of new and transformative technology has quickly hit the market. Existing tech is also being improved on a near-constant basis.
As artificial intelligence and robots become mainstream at a rapid pace, and quantum computing is nearing commercial use it’s easy for people to get excited about all the advances.
CIOs, however, say that many technologies don’t deliver the benefits expected — at least not yet. It’s a common trend when technology expectations exceed what the technology can do right now. Gartner’s Hype Cycle refers to this stage as the “peak of inflated expectation” — just before disillusionment takes hold.
Each innovative technology offers potential. “Each innovative technology offers potential.
Karen Campbellis the CIO at law firm Foley Hoag. She stresses that she is expressing her own views and not those of the firm. CIOs tend to be on the frontlines of all this. They are either caught up in excitement or have to manage expectations when hoped for plans exceed reality. Campbell says that it is important to have a realistic view of the capabilities of technology, while also considering the nuances.
Many factors contribute to inflated expectation. Some technologies become overhyped when their capabilities fall short of what users expect. Some technologies reach this point when it takes too much effort, money, and time to achieve their full potential.
Here’s what IT leaders had to say when asked about what is overhyped in today’s market.
1. Generative AI
This is the third consecutive year that CIOs have cited generative AI as a technology that has been overhyped.
Nearly all sources agree that the expectations for generative AI are higher than what it is capable of doing – and doing well – at this time.
Campbell cites the challenges of using gen AI to replace lawyers in her field, noting that the current technical capabilities are overhyped.
She says there is a significant value for gen AI to firm operations and to augmented services related with the practice of law. “There are many opportunities to enhance productivity and improve processes related to legal practice and operations. There are also many opportunities to elevate client outcomes and experience. There are also opportunities to explore new revenue streams and to reduce costs related to operations by automating. The current state of gen AI in the practice and practice of law is still facing some challenges. There are still questions about the accuracy of the outputs, and the time investment of legal and business professionals in evaluating and balancing the outputs with their expertise.”
According to IDC research, nearly nine out of 10 gen AI projects fail to reach production. It’s no wonder that CIOs are resetting their strategies to focus on practical solutions rather than experimentation. Yet, the lack of success metrics continues a stumbling block to outcomes. The current state of the technology is also beginning to dampen expectations.
2. Agentic AI
Other people say that agentic AI has been overhyped as well, and cite the same reasons Campbell cites for placing gen AI on this listing.
And he’s not alone.
Gartner, a research firm, predicted in June 2025 that
Gartner’s senior analyst, Gartner, says that more than 40%of agentic AI project cancellations will occur by the year 2027. “This is due to rising costs, unclear business value, or inadequate risk control.”
Most agentic AI initiatives are still in early-stage experiments and proof of concept, which are often driven by hype.
Anushree verma explains the prediction of the firm in a press release. This can blind organizations to the true cost and complexity of deploying AI at scale, stalling production. They must cut through the hype and make strategic decisions about how and where they will use this emerging technology. CIOs must understand the differences between AI agents and agentic AI, as well how to determine if a business process can be a good candidate for agentic AI.
3. Digital employees
We are taking a huge leap of faith by calling simple agents – which are LLM wrapped chatbots or work flow agents – digital employees. Although the concept is revolutionary and has merit, we are still far from a digital employee. In a similar fashion, general-purpose agents were also hyped up. These agents are supposed to be able to perform multiple tasks with autonomy and agency. Currently, we have task-specific agent and it seems that the industry is moving in this direction. General-purpose agents are more likely to be multi-orchestrators than stand-alone agent by themselves.”
Therefore, although Microsoft recently predicted that AI agents in the form digital employees would soon upend organizational charts, heralding a new role as “agent boss,” overseeing teams consisting both of people and digital AI workers, this future is likely further off than touted.
4. AIOps & Observability
Another AI entry that makes its debut this year. AIOps, a new discipline, is a way for AI systems to not only identify issues in operations infrastructure but also react intelligently to them.
Joshi says that the promise of AIOps coupled with observability to run self-mitigated operation through better data links and insights hasn’t materialized. “The noise overload from these tools, combined with irrelevant telemetry, has been a major bottleneck.” It has taken a lot of time to triage and understand, rather than respond to businesses. As AI agents grow, these platforms will also cover the agent’s observability, which can make things more challenging.
5. AI in general
Some consider AI to be an overhyped technology.
Like gen AI, some tech leaders think AI in general is overhyped because expectations are exceeding reality.
There is so much misinformation, and misunderstood info out there that AI ended up on my overhyped technology list,” says
Drew DeNardo ( ) is the CTO at virtual care company JOGO health. “Yes, this is a very transformational technology, but people believe it will magically solve their problems. He says that tech leaders are aware of the reality, which is very different. “You have to be deliberate and thoughtful. The companies that use AI as a supplement to their teams, to empower them and make them more productive are the ones that will succeed. Whereas those companies who think that they can use AI in order to cut people are failing spectacularly.
6. Quantum computing
IT leaders do recognize the potential of quantum computer, which uses quantum mechanics to perform calculations, and is therefore exponentially faster and stronger than the current class computers. But they also say that quantum computing is further off than the hype suggests. This has landed it on the list again this year.
We’ve made big leaps but we won’t be impacted by quantum computer anytime soon, says
Brendan Arbuckle, CIO at The Jackson Laboratories.
Arbuckle, like other tech leaders, does see quantum breakthroughs coming and believes CIOs must be prepared.
Planning for a post quantum worldis important, especially in terms of encryption. He doesn’t think there is a need to make concrete plans in the next few years for using quantum computing for enterprise workflows.
Another category of technology that appears on the annual list is quantum computing. Analysts and IT leaders agree expectations for spatial computing – whether it’s augmented reality or virtual reality, extended realty, or the metaverse – still outpace the value of the technology despite the advances made in recent years. West Monroe’s Moogimane claims that “the metaverse, spatial technology, AR/VR – none of those really took off.”
Moogimane doesn’t dismiss these technologies entirely, however. As with other technologies that are now considered overhyped in the media, spatial computing is a promising technology. It will take time and investment, though, to reap its benefits.
Moogimane says that “any major technology change requiring a change in the way work is done, requiring different forms of engagement, and different workflows takes longer for people adopt.” “I think that the expectations are correct, but it will be longer than expected before we get there.”
Everest Group’s Joshi also has a similar view and specifically cites the industrial metaverse. He says that “the promise has been higher than actual implementations.” Joshi believes there are many use cases for digital twins, including design and maintenance of shop floor, training, and high-end device maintenance. Its adoption has been hindered by issues such as infrastructure costs, training of people, interoperability and poor UX.
8. Multicloud
Joshi says that while many CIOs embrace the multicloud strategy, few reap all of its benefits.
The [enterprise] goal to have uniformly synchronized interoperable workloads in multiclouds, which allows them to address vendor locking-in, has not worked,” says Joshi. “Most enterprises have adopted multicloud, but they rarely change their cloud vendor bets. They don’t necessarily interoperate workloads across multiple cloud platforms.
While CIOs are more deliberately pursuing multicloud strategy, whereas many previously had found themselves in this position by accident, interoperability, and other key issues add complexity to the equation.
9. Electric vehicles
Although this isn’t a technology CIOs deal with often, some CIOs put it on their list as a tech that has been overhyped.
Chris Grebisz, CIO at technology company Welocalizeis one of them. He said that he had to learn how to put the Tesla into neutral for the first time when he went to a carwash.
He’s discovering that the user interface, while being advertised as intuitive, is not as easy to use as he had hoped.
He says, “It is going from driving a car for 30 years to something like an iPhone or iPad. I am a techie.” “Everything has to be figured.” I have to read the manual.
Grebisz now considers his Tesla as a “transportation device” rather than a vehicle, a mental shift that helps him manage the change required when switching from a conventional automobile to an EV. He says that it was a drastic change, and that true digital natives may find the transition easier. The experience also gave him an insight into the feelings of workers when a new technology disrupts their long-established workflows.
I was really surprised by my own experience. He adds, “I thought it would be a lot simpler.”
10. Green energy
David Williamsonis the CIO of Abzena a life sciences firm. He goes further and places green energy under the overhyped technology category.
Let’s be clear: he’s not against this. He has a Tesla, and he has solar energy in his home.
These personal experiences led him to conclude that green energy is not the panacea that some claim. He, like Grebisz, found that driving an EV is a learning process.
His biggest complaint is that they constantly change the user interface. He says he’s “watched many videos” to learn how to drive the car.
In addition, he found that cold and hot weather wears down the battery.
The panels get dirty, and then they lose their efficiency. They must be cleaned. The difference between their performance in the summer and winter is quite significant.
Williamson also mentions the surprise costs. He had to pay for the grid connection and was still charged a delivery charge.
Williamson said that these experiences reminded him that we “underestimate the impact of technology on individuals” and that there are “gotchas with technologies that aren’t discussed.”
