According to PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, the proportion of CEOs concerned about their long-term business viability has risen to 45% as tech and climate pressures accelerate.
PwC’s survey reportedly interviewed 4,702 CEOs across 105 countries and territories.
One of the key takeaways from the study was that 38% of CEOs are optimistic about global economic growth prospects over the next 12 months, up from 18% in 2023.
PwC explained that CEOs in most regions of the world are also more likely to be optimistic about domestic economic prospects than pessimistic.
However, CEOs in North America and Western Europe buck the trend – in Western Europe, 32% expect their domestic economies to improve, and 48% decline; in North America, 31% and 52%, respectively.
“While the trajectory is positive, confidence is fragile as megatrends including technological disruption – Almost half (45%) exemplified by generative AI and the climate transition converge,” PwC added.
45% of the CEOs said they do not believe their current business will be viable in a decade if it continues on its current path – up from 39% in 2023.
Meanwhile, reflecting uncertainty about how they will manage megatrends, CEOs are also somewhat less confident than last year in their own company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months – down from 42% to 37%.
Arthur Wightman, PwC Bermuda leader, said: “Despite rising optimism about the global economy, CEOs are actually less optimistic than last year about their own revenue prospects.
“Moreover, they are acutely aware of the need to transform their business to survive. If organisations globally and here in Bermuda are to thrive over the short and long-term and deliver sustained value, they must accelerate the pace of reinvention.”
Turning back briefly to the topic of AI, PwC said that CEOs overwhelmingly see generative AI as a catalyst for reinvention that will “power efficiency, innovation, and transformational change”.
70% believe it will significantly change the way their company creates, delivers, and captures value in the next three years. CEOs are also optimistic about the short-term impact.
“Over the next 12 months, almost three-fifths (58%) expect it to improve the quality of their products or services and almost half (48%) say it will enhance their ability to build trust with stakeholders. They also expect better outcomes for their business – 41% expect it to positively impact revenue and 46% expect it to positively impact profitability,” PwC said.
Though while CEOs are increasingly looking to the transformative benefits of generative AI, the great majority say it will require workforce upskilling (69%).
PwC found that they have also expressed concern about an associated rise in cybersecurity risk (64%), misinformation (52%), legal liabilities and reputation risks (46%), and bias towards specific groups of customers or employees (34%) in their companies.
