According to a global survey by professional services group PwC, only three in 10 chief executives are confident in their companies’ revenue growth prospects over the upcoming financial year, the lowest level in five years.
The annual survey of more than 4,000 CEOs in 95 countries and territories, conducted in late 2025, found the participants struggling with uncertainty over global political developments, increased cyber threats, and what technological change meant for their business.
While one-fifth of CEOs said their companies were highly exposed to losses from trade tariffs, another one-third cited cyber risk as a major threat. Around 42% were more concerned about what the pace of technological change meant for their companies.
Confidence in revenue growth over the next 12 months has declined sharply, with only 30% of CEOs saying they were very confident, down from the 2025 tally of 38% and a peak of 56% seen in 2022. On margins, nearly 29% of participating CEOs said tariffs would reduce their company’s net profit margin over the next financial year, while 60% anticipated little or no change. Among those expecting pressure, most forecast only a modest impact.
“The biggest question on CEOs’ minds is whether they are transforming fast enough to keep pace with technological change, including artificial intelligence (AI),” the survey concluded.
The results were stark: 56% said that they had not seen any financial benefit from adopting AI, 33% said they had seen cost or revenue wins, and the rest said they had seen both cost and revenue wins.
PwC found in another analysis that those companies using AI broadly across products, services, and customer experiences were reaping the most rewards, while those still experimenting with it were seeing less benefit.
“It (AI) is working, and it is here to stay. AI is now a must for companies around the world to adopt, the question is how,” PwC Global Chairman Mohamed Kande said.
Trust-related concerns, on the other hand, remain prominent, with 66% of surveyed CEOs saying stakeholder trust issues had arisen in at least one area of business operations during 2025. PwC also noted a significant gap in total shareholder returns between public companies facing the highest and lowest levels of trust-related concerns.