PwC Global CEO Survey 2026: What 4,454 CEOs Reveal About Leading Through Uncertainty

Global CEO Survey 2026: CEO Confidence in Freefall

The global CEO survey 2026 from PwC paints a sobering picture of executive sentiment as the world enters another year of compounding disruptions. Drawing on responses from 4,454 chief executives across 95 countries and territories, PwC’s 29th Annual Global CEO Survey reveals that short-term confidence has eroded significantly. Only 30% of CEOs now describe themselves as very or extremely confident about their company’s revenue growth prospects over the next twelve months — a steep decline from 38% the prior year and a dramatic fall from the 56% peak recorded in 2022.

The drivers behind this pessimism are multi-layered. Macroeconomic volatility and cyber risk now jointly top the threat list, each cited by 31% of CEOs as a significant concern. Technology disruption (24%) and geopolitical conflict (23%) have also edged higher, while inflation concerns have moderated only marginally from 27% to 25%. Insurance CEOs face particular headwinds as a golden period of industry profitability ends, while oil and gas executives contend with weak demand and oversupply fears. As one of the survey’s central questions summarises: “Are we transforming our business fast enough to keep up with technology, including AI?” The full report, published by PwC’s Global CEO Survey hub, provides the most comprehensive annual snapshot of executive sentiment available.

The three-year revenue outlook has also softened, though less dramatically. This divergence suggests that CEOs maintain structural optimism about longer-term opportunities while grappling with an immediate environment defined by uncertainty. For investors and strategists tracking executive sentiment, this edition of the PwC CEO survey signals a pronounced shift from cautious optimism to defensive positioning.

AI Adoption Hits a Reality Check in the Global CEO Survey 2026

Perhaps the most striking finding in the global CEO survey 2026 is the gap between AI investment and AI returns. Despite years of accelerating commitments to generative AI, more than half of CEOs (56%) report that their organisations have realised neither additional revenue nor cost reductions from AI deployments. This figure challenges the prevailing narrative that AI transformation is already delivering at scale.

The data tells a nuanced story. Thirty percent of CEOs say AI has contributed to revenue increases over the past year, while 26% report cost decreases. However, 22% say their costs have actually increased because of AI — suggesting that for a significant minority, AI investment is currently net-negative on the bottom line. Only one in eight CEOs (12%) report both higher revenues and lower costs from AI, forming what PwC labels the “AI vanguard.”

Deployment across business functions remains shallow. AI is being applied at scale (to a large or very large extent) by just 22% of companies in demand generation, 20% in support services, 19% in products and customer experiences, 15% in strategic direction-setting, and 13% in demand fulfilment. PwC’s companion Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey reinforces this picture: only 14% of workers reported using generative AI daily, with more than a quarter expressing worry about AI’s impact on their roles. The report’s key recommendation is unambiguous: “Isolated, tactical AI projects often don’t deliver measurable value. Tangible returns come from enterprise-scale deployment consistent with company business strategy.”

The AI Vanguard: What Top-Performing Companies Do Differently

While the majority of companies struggle to extract value from AI, the 12% of CEOs who have achieved both revenue growth and cost savings — the AI vanguard — offer a blueprint for success. These organisations are furthest ahead in building AI foundations across multiple dimensions, and their practices diverge sharply from the broader population.

The most striking differentiator is product integration: 44% of vanguard companies have applied AI to their products, services, and experiences at scale, compared with just 17% of all other firms. This gap suggests that the biggest returns come not from internal efficiency projects but from AI-enhanced offerings that drive customer value and competitive differentiation. For a broader look at how AI is reshaping industries, see our analysis of McKinsey’s State of AI report.

Vanguard companies also distinguish themselves through stronger technology environments that enable AI integration, clearly defined AI road maps aligned with business strategy, formalised responsible AI and risk management processes, and organisational cultures that actively support AI adoption and experimentation. The message for boards and C-suites is clear: AI returns are not a function of spending magnitude but of strategic coherence, operational readiness, and willingness to embed AI into the core business model rather than confining it to pilot programmes.

Tariffs and Trade: Navigating the New Protectionism

Trade policy has become a front-and-centre concern for chief executives worldwide. The global CEO survey 2026 finds that one in five CEOs (20%) consider their company highly or extremely exposed to the risk of significant financial loss from tariffs over the next twelve months. Almost a third (29%) anticipate that tariffs will reduce their company’s net profit margin, with most of those expecting declines of less than 15%. Meanwhile, 60% expect little to no change, and a mere 6% anticipate margin improvement from tariff dynamics.

Geographic variation in tariff exposure is dramatic. CEOs in the Middle East report the lowest exposure at just 6%, while the United States sits near the global average at 22%. The most exposed executives are in Mexico (35%), Turkey (30%), and the Chinese Mainland (28%) — reflecting the direct impact of trade tensions on economies deeply integrated into global supply chains. The survey describes this as a new dimension of geopolitical risk, as “governments recalibrate tax policy to support national interests, secure supply chains, and address fiscal shortfalls.”

For multinational enterprises, the implications extend beyond margin compression. Tariff uncertainty is reshaping investment decisions, supplier networks, and market-entry strategies. Thirty-two percent of CEOs say geopolitical uncertainty is making them less likely to make large new investments, creating a feedback loop between policy volatility and capital deployment that may constrain growth for years to come. For further context on trade dynamics, explore our coverage of the World Bank Global Economic Prospects.

Cyber Risk Surges to the Boardroom Agenda

Cybersecurity has undergone a rapid escalation in CEO concern. The global CEO survey 2026 shows that 31% of CEOs now rate their company as highly or extremely exposed to cyber risk in the year ahead — up from 24% last year and just 21% two years ago. Cyber risk has risen to share the top position alongside macroeconomic volatility as the threat that most preoccupies the global CEO community.

In response, an overwhelming 84% of CEOs say they plan to strengthen enterprise-wide cybersecurity practices, explicitly framing this as a response to geopolitical risk. The interconnection is clear: as geopolitical tensions escalate, state-sponsored and criminal cyber activity intensifies, and the attack surface expands with every new AI system, cloud migration, and digital supply chain integration.

Geographic disparities in perceived exposure are striking. In Germany, 34% of CEOs report high or extreme cyber exposure, while in the United Kingdom the figure is just 16% — despite the UK experiencing regular high-profile cyberattacks. PwC suggests this gap may reflect differences in regulatory intensity, board-level cyber awareness, and the composition of the industrial base rather than actual threat levels. For chief information security officers and boards, the message is clear: cyber resilience is no longer a technical issue but a strategic governance imperative that directly affects stakeholder confidence and enterprise value.

Sectors Without Borders: The Reinvention Imperative

One of the most forward-looking themes in this year’s survey is the acceleration of cross-sector competition. Forty-two percent of CEOs report that their company has begun competing in new sectors over the past five years — a figure consistent with the prior year and signalling that industry convergence is now a structural trend rather than an outlier phenomenon.

Among CEOs planning major acquisitions over the next three years, 44% expect to pursue deals outside their current industry, with technology emerging as the most attractive adjacent sector globally. Technology CEOs, meanwhile, are looking toward healthcare, business services, and banking and capital markets as growth frontiers. This bidirectional flow of capital and capability across traditional industry boundaries is reshaping competitive landscapes in ways that defy conventional sector analysis.

The performance data is compelling. Companies generating 50% of their revenue from new sectors report CEO confidence of 46% and profit margins of 14% — compared with 35% confidence and 9% margins for companies with no cross-sector revenue. The gap between “dynamic” companies (those actively investing, acquiring, and expanding into new markets) and “cautious” ones (neither planning major acquisitions nor investing aggressively) translates to a revenue growth differential of 9% versus 7% and a profit margin gap of 9% versus 6%. The survey’s conclusion is blunt: dynamism pays, and caution carries a measurable cost.

Innovation Gap: Aspiration vs. Execution

Half of all CEOs (50%) say innovation is central to their company’s business strategy — a seemingly encouraging figure until you examine the execution data. The global CEO survey 2026 reveals a profound gap between innovation ambition and innovation practice.

Only one in four CEOs agree to a large or very large extent that their company tolerates high-risk innovation projects (26%), has routine processes to stop underperforming R&D initiatives (24%), or operates a defined innovation centre, incubator, or corporate venturing function (23%). When PwC examined how many companies have implemented at least five of six core innovation practices at scale, the answer was fewer than one in ten (8%).

The collaboration picture is somewhat brighter — 32% work extensively with external innovation partners, and 30% test new ideas rapidly with customers. But even these figures suggest that most large enterprises remain trapped in what innovation scholars call “theatre”: visibly investing in innovation while lacking the structural mechanisms to translate experiments into commercial outcomes. Companies that have achieved critical mass in innovation practices consistently report higher percentages of sales from new products and services, faster revenue growth, and stronger profit margins.

Time allocation compounds the challenge. CEOs report spending 47% of their time focused on issues with a horizon of less than one year, compared with just 16% on decisions looking more than five years ahead. Chinese Mainland CEOs are a notable exception, allocating 28% of their time to long-horizon decisions. Private equity-backed CEOs are the most short-term focused, with 57% of their time spent on sub-one-year issues. This temporal bias creates a structural barrier to the kind of patient, iterative investment that breakthrough innovation demands.

Global Investment Flows: Where CEOs Are Betting in 2026

Despite the cautious sentiment, 51% of CEOs are planning international investments in the year ahead — a figure that underscores PwC’s central thesis that “globalisation is in transition, not in retreat.” The destinations, however, are shifting in ways that reflect new geopolitical realities and emerging growth opportunities.

The United States has consolidated its position as the top investment destination, with 35% of CEOs placing it in their top three — up from 30% a year earlier. Germany and India share second place at 13% each, with India’s near-doubling from 7% representing the survey’s most dramatic year-on-year shift. The United Kingdom (13%), Chinese Mainland (11%), UAE (8%), Saudi Arabia (7%), France (7%), Spain (6%), and Singapore (6%) complete the top ten.

The entry of the UAE and Saudi Arabia into the top ten for the first time reflects what the World Economic Forum’s analysis describes as the Gulf Cooperation Council’s ambitious multi-decade infrastructure expansion, which encompasses model cities, industrial clusters, and large-scale data centre projects. CEOs from consumer packaged goods, banking, health services, technology, and engineering and construction are driving Middle Eastern investment interest. For a deeper exploration of global capital flows, see our analysis of OECD Economic Outlook trends.

Stakeholder Trust as a Performance Driver

The global CEO survey 2026 introduces robust evidence that stakeholder trust is not merely a reputational consideration but a quantifiable driver of financial performance. Two-thirds (66%) of CEOs report that stakeholder trust concerns have arisen in at least one area of business operations over the past twelve months.

The most common trust challenges include questions about data use and privacy (38%), demands for greater transparency (38%), concerns around AI safety and responsible AI practices (37%), increased scrutiny of leadership decisions (36%), questions about climate change impact on business performance (32%), and withdrawal of support or investment (26%). Each of these touchpoints represents a potential erosion of the social licence that underpins long-term enterprise value.

The financial impact is measurable and material: companies experiencing the fewest trust concerns delivered total shareholder returns that were, on average, nine percentage points higher than those experiencing the most trust issues over a twelve-month period. PwC recommends that CEOs think about trust across three interconnected dimensions — operational trust (efficient, resilient operations), accountability trust (high-quality reporting and transparent communications), and digital trust (protecting data, maintaining security, and using digital tools responsibly).

Climate Risk and Sustainability: From Disclosure to Decision-Making

Climate risk continues its steady climb up the corporate agenda, though execution lags aspiration — a pattern consistent with the innovation findings. Forty-two percent of CEOs say their company is at least moderately exposed to financial loss from climate change in the year ahead, rising to 51% in the insurance sector and 67% in power and utilities.

The integration of climate considerations into core business decisions remains limited. Only 24% of CEOs report defined processes for bringing climate-related risks and opportunities into supply chain and sourcing decisions at scale, with the same figure for product design and development. Capital allocation decisions — including M&A — incorporate climate factors at scale for just 20% of companies. Fewer than one in three insurance CEOs say their company has formal processes for climate-informed capital allocation, despite the sector’s acute exposure.

However, companies that have embedded climate into their decision-making processes are faster to market and more agile in adapting to changing demand and supply conditions. PwC identifies five interconnected topics that drive value creation for most companies: physical climate risk assessment, regulatory compliance, energy strategy optimisation, supply chain resilience, and leveraging tax credits and incentives. For businesses navigating the energy transition, these five areas represent both the greatest risks and the most significant opportunities for competitive advantage in the coming decade.