Among the key findings from this year’s survey:

• Most CEOs say their companies aren’t yet seeing a financial return from investments in AI. Although close to a third (30%) report increased revenue from AI in the last 12 months and a quarter (26%) are seeing lower costs, more than half (56%) say they’ve realised neither revenue nor cost benefits.
• CEOs are seeking growth opportunities outside of their sectors. More than 40% say their companies have started to compete in new sectors in the last five years. Among those planning large acquisitions over the next three years, four in ten expect to do deals in other sectors or industries.
• Compared to last year, CEOs are less confident about their company’s near-term revenue growth prospects. Only 30% are very or extremely confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 38% in last year’s survey and the recent peak of 56% in 2022.
• Almost a third of CEOs (29%) say tariffs will reduce their company’s net profit margin over the next 12 months. The majority (60%) expect little to no change. Among those expecting margin compression, most anticipate only a slight decline.
• Two-thirds of CEOs (66%) say stakeholder trust concerns have arisen in at least one area of business operations over the last 12 months. There’s a significant gap in total shareholder returns over this period between public companies experiencing the most and the fewest trust concerns.
• Clearly, we’re in the early stages of the AI era. Asked about the extent to which their organisations are deploying AI across the business, a relatively small proportion of CEOs say they’re applying it to a large or very large extent to areas such as demand generation (22%); support services (20%); the company’s products, services, and experiences (19%); direction setting (15%); or demand fulfilment (13%). Consider also that in PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025, only 14% of workers said they were using generative AI daily.

Your next move: Build AI foundations. Our work with organisations confirms mounting evidence (PDF) that isolated, tactical AI projects often don’t deliver measurable value. Tangible returns come from enterprise-scale deployment consistent with company business strategy. This, in turn, demands strong AI foundations, including a technology environment that enables AI integration, a clearly defined road map for AI initiatives, formalised Responsible AI and risk processes, and an organisational culture that enables AI adoption…”