2025 AI Governance Survey Reveals Critical Gaps Between AI Ambition and Operational Readiness

Technical leaders knowingly prioritize AI adoption despite governance shortcomings, while smaller organizations lack regulatory awareness

LEWES, Del., June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific AI, the healthcare AI governance company, today announced the results of the 2025 AI Governance Survey, exploring how organizations are managing the risks and responsibilities of deploying generative AI systems. Conducted in April and May by Gradient Flow, the results highlight the priorities, practices, and concerns of professionals and technology leaders in this space. The results will be presented in an upcoming webinar on the state of AI governance taking place at 2pm ET on June 18.

As AI becomes foundational for modern business, governance should be top of mind. However, the results indicate that the pressure to innovate is outpacing the ability to scale AI systems safely and responsibly. Despite 75% of respondents reporting the existence of AI usage policies, only 59% have dedicated governance roles, and just 54% maintain incident response playbooks for AI-specific risks. Fewer than half (48%) of organizations are monitoring their AI systems for accuracy, misuse, or drift—numbers that drop drastically in small firms.

The leading barrier to effective governance is the pressure to move fast. Nearly half (45%) of all respondents—and 56% of technical leaders—cite speed-to-market as the top challenge, often resulting in shortcuts that compromise safety. Technical leaders, who are driving the most aggressive deployment timelines, are simultaneously those most aware of these governance shortcomings.

Other key findings show:

Production Reality Gaps. Only 30% of organizations have deployed generative AI systems to production, with just 13% managing multiple deployments. Large enterprises are five times more likely than small firms to have multiple systems running.
Technical Leader Ambition. Technical Leaders drive more aggressive adoption, with 48% targeting 3-5 new use cases versus 25% for other roles.
Small Company Vulnerability. Small companies consistently lag in governance maturity: only 36% have governance officers (vs 62-64% for larger firms), and just 41% provide annual AI training (vs 59-79%).
Regulatory Awareness Deficits. Familiarity with frameworks like NIST AI RMF remains concentrated in large enterprises. Small companies report only 14% familiarity with most major standards, exposing compliance risk.
Immature Incident Response. Many organizations lack protocols for AI-specific failure modes, such as prompt injection attacks or biased outputs, indicating a lack of capabilities beyond traditional IT playbooks.

"This survey exposes a growing disconnect between AI policy and practice. Organizations that don’t address it are playing with fire and they know it," said David Talby, CEO, Pacific AI. "Without responsible AI practices baked into the entire AI development lifecycle, developers and thereby the organizations they work for are escalating legal, financial, and reputational risks."

To help, Pacific AI provides a free AI Policy Suite available to anyone. Recent updates include an AI Incident Reporting Policy addressing some of the major gaps reported in the survey. Conforming to 110 different laws, regulations, and industry standards, the Policy Suite ensures companies are operating legally anywhere in the US. This can be especially beneficial to smaller organizations with limited resources that still need to track and implement evolving legislation and industry standards.

Register here for our upcoming webinar,“The State of AI Governance,” detailing the research and outlining the priorities, practices, and concerns of technology leaders using AI. Read the full survey report here. To learn more about Pacific AI, visit https://pacific.ai/.

About Pacific AI
Pacific AI is dedicated to helping organizations deliver AI systems that comply with the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape in the USA. Whatever your starting point, Pacific AI can help you reach the next level of AI governance, implement tools and controls for compliance, or audit and certify what you’ve already built. To learn more, visit: https://www.pacific.ai.

Contact
Gina Devine
Head of Communications
Pacific AI Corp.
gina@pacific.ai

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