Is the AIES a full AI? I cannot find any part of the AIES article which states that, only that it is based on the same concept as the MEGAMI, EIES, CIES, and so on.
But yes, As Doshii says, CIES, and indeed all other IES variants, are significantly stronger than the PAWN, it just happens to be stronger than the AIES itself, at least in the Sensor department. Whether or not it processes at the same rate is up for debate, but I'm not going to make any claims either way at this point.