CEO confidence hits 5-year low as AI payoffs lag, PwC finds

PwC says 42% cite transformation speed as their top worry, whilst 31% flag cyber risk as a major threat.

Global CEO confidence in near-term revenue growth has fallen to its lowest level in five years, according to PwC’s 2026 Global CEO Survey.

PwC said only 30% of chief executives surveyed are confident about revenue growth in 2026, down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022, reflecting heightened uncertainty around technology disruption, geopolitics, and trade conditions.

The survey also points to a widening gap in how companies are realising value from artificial intelligence. Just 12% of CEOs said AI has delivered both cost and revenue benefits so far.

A further 33% reported gains in either cost or revenue, whilst 56% said they have yet to see any significant financial impact.

Speed of transformation has emerged as CEOs’ top concern. PwC found that 42% of respondents cited whether their organisation is transforming fast enough to keep pace with technological change, including AI, as their primary worry.

This ranked ahead of concerns over innovation capability and medium- to long-term business viability, both cited by 29%.

PwC said companies that have scaled AI more extensively tend to report better outcomes. CEOs who cited both cost and revenue gains were two to three times more likely to say AI is embedded across products and services, demand generation, and strategic decision-making.

The firm added that organisations with responsible AI frameworks and enabling technology environments were three times more likely to report meaningful financial returns from AI.
Trade-related risks are also rising.

One in five CEOs said they are highly or extremely exposed to significant financial losses from tariffs over the next 12 months, with exposure varying by region. PwC cited higher reported exposure among CEOs in the Chinese mainland, Mexico, and the US, compared with lower levels in the Middle East.

Cybersecurity has become a growing concern, with 31% of CEOs citing cyber risk as a major threat, up from 24% a year ago and 21% two years earlier.

In response, 84% said they plan to strengthen enterprise-wide cybersecurity as part of their approach to managing geopolitical risks.

The survey also highlighted an acceleration in reinvention and cross-sector expansion. PwC said 42% of CEOs reported that their companies have started competing in new sectors over the past five years.

Among those planning major acquisitions, 44% expect to invest outside their core industry, with technology cited as the most attractive adjacent sector.

More than half of CEOs, or 51%, said they plan to make international investments.

The US emerged as the top destination, ranked among the top three by 35% of respondents, followed by the UK and Germany at 13% each, and the Chinese mainland at 11%. Interest in India nearly doubled YoY to 13% among CEOs planning overseas investment, PwC said.

At the same time, the survey points to execution challenges. Only about one in four CEOs said their organisations tolerate high risk in innovation projects, have disciplined processes to stop underperforming initiatives, or operate a defined innovation or venturing function.

PwC also found that CEOs spend 47% of their time on issues with a time horizon of less than one year, compared with 16% on decisions looking more than five years ahead.