Interview: IBM Consulting’s Lula Mohanty on AI and the CEO Agenda
Now 100 days into her new role as Managing Partner for the Middle East & Africa at IBM Consulting, we spoke with Lula Mohanty on two themes that will be a central focus of her plans: AI and the CEO agenda.
Congrats on your new role. Can you tell us about your background and what expertise you’re bringing to the region?
Thank you. I am honoured to lead IBM Consulting in the Middle East & Africa at a time of remarkable transformation. I bring over twenty years of global consulting experience focused on helping clients navigate digital reinvention and enterprise-wide transformation. My approach is rooted in close collaboration with business and technology leaders to solve complex challenges, deliver innovation at scale, and drive sustainable growth.
What excites me about this region is the pace of ambition and the willingness to lead. At IBM Consulting, we are redefining value in the AI era through what we call the ‘Science of Consulting’. This approach blends deep human expertise with a powerful AI-augmented delivery platform called Advantage.
Being a consulting company inside a technology company, at IBM Consulting we are uniquely positioned to provide a full spectrum of services and integration capabilities to our clients along with our strategic partners; and this is the most exciting part of being in this region, when there is so much opportunity.
Our “Client Zero” methodology, applying innovations internally before extending them to clients, has already delivered billions in operational efficiencies. This has elevated our position beyond traditional consulting firms and system integrators to unlock AI’s full potential for future-ready businesses across the Middle East and Africa.
IBM’s recent CEO Study highlights five critical mindshifts to accelerate growth in the age of AI. What are they, and why do they matter now?
The pace of technological change is unrelenting. Just as business leaders begin to adapt to one breakthrough, another emerges and demands a fresh strategic response. Indeed, our 2025 CEO Study identifies five mindset shifts that are helping high-performing CEOs lead with clarity in this environment.
These shifts include adopting the courage to take risk as a core leadership principle, enabling constructive change through AI-led transformation, investing in a robust data foundation, focusing on return over hype, and collaborating across strategic partnerships to access the talent and capabilities to accelerate AI-innovation that may not be available in-house. These are not abstract concepts. They represent deliberate, actionable shifts that are already distinguishing high-growth organisations.
They matter because they offer a framework for making decisions when the future is uncertain but the imperative to lead remains clear.
How ready are CEOs in the Middle East and Africa when it comes to adopting AI – and is it delivering on its promise?
There is strong momentum across the region, with 59% of CEOs in the Middle East and Africa already adopting AI agents at scale. A further 54% say they are accelerating the adoption of generative AI, even when it stretches traditional comfort zones. This level of intent reflects a region that is not only eager to modernize but is positioning itself to lead.
CEOs here also report feeling less constrained by regulatory ambiguity, which is likely enabling faster, more confident decision-making in several markets.
However, while adoption is progressing, the value realization from AI has yet to reach the scale many had anticipated. Only 25% of CEOs in Middle East & Africa say their AI initiatives have delivered the expected return on investment over the past three years, and just 16% have successfully scaled those initiatives across their enterprise. So far, much of the focus has been on established use cases such as IT and customer service.
Now, the emphasis is shifting. CEOs are prioritizing predictive capabilities, with forecast accuracy emerging as the top objective. This signals a move beyond experimentation toward strategic integration, where AI becomes a core driver of performance across the business. Realizing that potential will require not only continued investment, but also tighter alignment between business and technology leadership.
You’ve spoken about making courage your core. Why is that so important for today’s CEOs?
Because in today’s environment, standing still is often riskier than moving forward decisively. Our research shows that 61% of CEOs in the Middle East and Africa believe they must take more risk than their competitors to stay ahead. 62% are investing in new technologies like AI even before they have a full understanding of the long-term value, driven by the risk of falling behind.
That said, effective leadership is not about being fast for the sake of speed. Only 38% of CEOs in Middle East & Africa agree with the idea that it is better to be fast and wrong than slow and right. The best leaders are courageous but measured. They are focused on outcomes and resilient enough to pivot as conditions evolve.
This often requires rethinking traditional budgeting models and being prepared to reallocate capital quickly in response to new opportunities or challenges. Courage in this context means having the conviction to act with both speed and precision.
You refer to ‘AI-led creative destruction’. Can this kind of disruption be constructive for businesses?
Yes, it can, and in many cases it is necessary. The idea of creative destruction reflects the reality that success today is not necessarily about doing the same things better but about optimizing what works and removing what does not to make room for growth. This means some legacy structures must be dismantled. AI is prompting many organizations to reassess and often redesign their business models, operations and even core offerings.
In our study, 71% of MEA CEOs say AI is fundamentally reshaping parts of their business that were previously considered foundational.
This is not about incremental improvement. It is about building the next version of the organisation. Leading CEOs are taking a proactive approach, continuously evaluating which systems, processes and capabilities remain relevant, and which need to evolve or be replaced. AI agents are instrumental in this effort, providing data-driven insights that support informed, objective decisions. This is the essence of constructive change: moving beyond optimisation to true reinvention.
How are companies addressing the talent gap caused by rapid AI adoption?
The pressure on talent is significant. AI is creating demand for new roles and skills at a pace that most organisations are struggling to match. CEOs in MEA are responding with urgency. 75% of CEOs in the region say that access to the right expertise, in the right roles and with the right incentives, is a key differentiator. This is well above the global average.
More than half of these CEOs are recruiting for AI-related roles that did not exist a year ago, but nearly 49% report difficulty in attracting or retaining the talent they need. In response, many are turning to partners to access specialised capabilities at speed. While there are legitimate concerns about risk and competitiveness, 69% of Middle East & Africa chief executives plan to consolidate their partnerships, focusing on fewer, more strategic relationships that add long-term value.
Finally, what sets the most successful CEOs apart?
In our global study, a small cohort of CEOs consistently outperformed their peers. We refer to them as ‘Luminary CEOs’. These leaders excel across financial, operational and strategic dimensions, and they demonstrate a distinct set of capabilities that others can learn from.
They run highly connected organisations, where functions work together through integrated workflows. They are decisive, able to act quickly in the face of uncertainty. They adopt a responsible approach to AI, with robust frameworks in place for governance and compliance. They are future-focused, making deliberate investments in the technologies and skills required for the next phase of growth.
They also understand the human dimension, with a clear view of how AI will impact their workforce. Finally, they are unencumbered by complexity, able to integrate new systems, processes and partners with agility.
These leaders are not simply managing through disruption. They are shaping the future of their organisations with purpose, clarity and discipline.
