CEO revenue confidence falls to five-year low, PwC survey shows

Confidence among global chief executives in their companies’ revenue growth prospects has fallen to its lowest level in five years, with only three in 10 expressing optimism for the year ahead, according to a survey by professional services firm PwC, cited by Reuters.

The annual survey, conducted late last year among more than 4,000 CEOs across 95 countries and territories, found business leaders grappling with uncertainty stemming from global political developments, rising cyber threats and the implications of rapid technological change for their organisations.

The findings showed that one in five CEOs said their companies were highly exposed to potential losses from trade tariffs, while nearly one-third identified cyber risk as a major threat. A larger proportion, 42%, said they were concerned about the pace of technological change and what it meant for their businesses.

PwC said the survey highlighted growing anxiety among chief executives over whether their organisations were transforming quickly enough to keep up with technological shifts, particularly the adoption of artificial intelligence.

The results also revealed a clear divide in outcomes from AI adoption. While 56% of CEOs said they had yet to see any financial benefits from AI, around 33% reported gains in either costs or revenues, with the remaining respondents saying AI had delivered improvements across both areas.

PwC said separate analysis showed that companies applying AI more broadly across products, services and customer experiences were seeing the strongest benefits, in contrast to those that were still experimenting with the technology and reporting more limited returns.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, PwC Global Chairman Mohamed Kande said AI adoption was already delivering results for companies and was becoming essential globally, adding that the key challenge now lay in determining how organisations should implement it effectively.