Loads of individuals have an opinion on an enterprise buy of a giant language mannequin (LLM). Far fewer have the authority to say no. In G2’s AI Customized Analysis interviews with 102 US enterprise leaders, 77 named somebody with veto energy over an LLM resolution. Of these, 87% pointed to a danger or governance staff and solely 13% named finance, procurement, the board, or govt finances authority.
That break up shapes how an LLM deal will get received. For 45% of leaders, resolution rights are shared, so a mannequin has to win over the individuals who ran the take a look at and the finance or safety homeowners who didn’t.
Should you’re making an attempt to get an LLM permitted, this text exhibits who decides, what most frequently places a deal in danger, which controls leaders count on earlier than a mannequin goes dwell, and what slows adoption inside an organization.
TL;DR: Who can veto an enterprise LLM buy
- Who approves LLM purchases in giant firms? Threat and governance groups often resolve whether or not a purchase order stops: 87% of the 77 leaders who named a veto holder pointed to them, 44% to safety, privateness, authorized, or compliance groups and 43% to a cross-functional governance group. Solely 13% named finance, procurement, the board, or govt finances authority.
- Why do enterprise LLM offers fail safety evaluation? Safety is what most frequently almost ends an LLM selection: 59% of the 75 leaders who named a dealbreaker or near-dealbreaker of their most up-to-date mannequin selection pointed to safety, privateness, or information publicity, forward of job high quality (28%) and pricing (13%).
- What safety controls do enterprises want earlier than deploying an LLM? Setting high quality and value apart, the every day work of working a mannequin is deciding who can use it and what delicate information it will possibly attain: 43% of 98 leaders put entry, permissions, and sensitive-data governance on the prime of what it takes to run a mannequin.
- Do higher-stakes LLM use circumstances want stricter controls? Greater stakes elevate the usual: 45% of 58 leaders mentioned customer-facing and delicate workflows want a better accuracy and security bar than routine inside work.
- What slows LLM adoption inside an organization? Safety and setup necessities gradual adoption: of the 55 leaders who described what slowed or blocked it, 38% named safety, retention, audit, and compliance necessities, and the remainder break up evenly between legacy-system integration and friction with single sign-on, permissions, and provisioning.
Who approves LLM purchases in giant firms?
The one that owns the finances for an enterprise LLM not often has the ultimate say. Of the 77 leaders who named somebody with veto energy, 87% pointed to a danger or governance staff: safety, privateness, authorized, compliance, or a cross-functional governance group. Solely 13% named finance, procurement, the board, or govt finances authority.
A lot of the leaders G2 interviewed are hands-on in selecting fashions: of the 100 who described their position, 61% are, and the remainder maintain a governance or advice position or personal the finances.
For a mannequin going right into a customer-facing product, about two-thirds of the leaders who described the method mentioned sign-off runs by IT, safety, authorized, and governance. These groups need proof of security, accuracy, and information safety.
“We have to have fairly a strong QA staff and a safety staff who will validate the security of this mannequin to go to the purchasers.”
Director of engineering and high quality assurance
Telecommunications firm
87%
of leaders who named a veto holder pointed to a danger or governance staff.
Supply: G2 Information
Why do enterprise LLM offers fail safety evaluation?
Enterprise LLM offers most frequently come near failing over safety, privateness, or data-exposure danger. When leaders described the newest time their group selected a mannequin, 75 named a dealbreaker or near-dealbreaker, and 59% of them pointed to safety, privateness, or information publicity. Failure in real-world job high quality got here subsequent at 28%, adopted by pricing or token economics at 13%.
G2’s interviews don’t comply with offers by formal safety critiques, to allow them to’t present how these critiques play out. They present what almost stopped a purchase order.
What safety controls do enterprises want earlier than deploying an LLM?
Earlier than deploying an LLM, enterprises look first for entry controls, permissions, and sensitive-data governance, then for privateness, safety, and retention controls constructed into the product. Requested what it takes to run a mannequin each day, setting high quality and value apart, 43% of 98 leaders put entry, permissions, and sensitive-data governance on the prime. A 3rd named integration with enterprise programs and workflows, and the remainder monitoring, adoption, and assist.
After these come customized evaluation and workflow guardrails, then spend limits and human oversight. Of the 81 leaders requested how they deal with controls round an LLM, 42% depend on the built-in entry, privateness, and retention controls their vendor ships, a 3rd have constructed customized monitoring, evaluation, and workflow guardrails on prime, and 1 / 4 have added spend limits and human oversight.
The stakes change the usual. Of 58 leaders, 45% mentioned customer-facing and delicate workflows face a better accuracy and security customary, whereas routine inside work prioritize effectivity and decrease price. For the highest-stakes makes use of, leaders need two issues in roughly equal measure: human oversight with validation on actual workloads and proof of accuracy, reliability, and low hallucination charges.
What slows LLM adoption inside an organization?
LLM adoption inside an organization slows attributable to safety, retention, audit, and compliance necessities, with legacy-system integration and single sign-on (SSO) friction shut behind. Of the 55 leaders who described a selected requirement that slowed or blocked adoption, 38% named safety and compliance necessities. The opposite 62% break up evenly between connecting the mannequin to legacy programs and getting SSO, permissions, and provisioning to work.
SSO friction exhibits how a small setup situation can gradual adoption. At one training group, the lag in including customers to SSO produced a gentle stream of complaints and a guide workaround run by the one who selected the mannequin. “The SSO has been an enormous drawback for us,” a frontrunner there mentioned.
The place does that depart enterprise LLM consumers?
It leaves consumers with one job to do earlier than every other: successful over the safety, authorized, and governance groups that may say no. The findings level to a few strikes:
- Convey safety, authorized and governance early. They’re those who can cease a purchase order.
- Arrive with proof of security, accuracy, and information safety. That’s what sign-off groups wish to see for something customer-facing.
- Ask distributors to indicate their controls up entrance. Meaning entry controls, retention ensures, audit logs, and SSO that work from day one.
- Take a look at SSO, permissions, and legacy-system connections early. Friction there slowed adoption for most of the leaders who described a requirement.
Distributors that publish their controls as a guidelines that maps to a purchaser’s evaluation make that final step simpler.
Regularly requested questions
Q1. Who approves LLM purchases in giant firms?
Safety, authorized, and governance groups maintain the ultimate no for a lot of the leaders who named a veto holder. Of the 77 who did, 44% pointed to safety, privateness, authorized, or compliance groups, and 43% to a cross-functional governance group. Solely 13% named finance, procurement, the board, or govt finances authority.
Q2. Why do enterprise LLM offers fail safety evaluation?
In G2’s interviews, safety is the commonest near-dealbreaker. Of 75 leaders who named one, 59% cited safety, privateness, or information publicity, forward of job high quality (28%) and pricing (13%).
Q3. What safety controls do enterprises want earlier than deploying an LLM?
Entry, permissions, and sensitive-data governance come first, adopted by privateness, safety, and retention controls constructed into the product. Of 81 leaders, 42% depend on the controls their vendor ships.
This fall. What slows LLM adoption inside an organization?
Of 55 leaders who described a requirement that slowed or blocked adoption, 38% named safety, retention, audit, and compliance necessities, and the remainder break up evenly between legacy-system integration and SSO and provisioning friction.
Analysis methodology
We ran 102 AI-led, open-ended interviews with US enterprise leaders in August and September 2026. Members included CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, and heads of AI who consider, choose, or fund LLMs. Of the 100 who described their position, 61% are hands-on in selecting fashions, 21% maintain governance or advice roles, and 18% personal the finances.
Of the 93 who named an business, 49% work in healthcare, training, the general public sector, or industrial firms. One other 33% work in expertise, software program, {and professional} providers, and 17% in monetary providers, insurance coverage, and banking.
Not each chief answered each query, so every determine exhibits how many individuals it’s primarily based on. With 102 interviews, percentages present course greater than precision, and outcomes from teams smaller than 30 are directional. All respondents are in the US, so the findings describe these consumers and never the entire market.
