Only 30% of CEOs confident on near-term revenue growth; 56% yet to see AI returns

New Delhi: Chief executives have become less confident about the near-term revenue growth prospects of their companies, while most are yet to see clear financial returns from investments in artificial intelligence, according to PwC’s annual Global CEO Survey released on Monday.

Unveiling its 29th Global CEO Survey on the opening day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, PwC said business leaders see a year ahead marked by multiple challenges.

The survey, based on responses from 4,454 chief executives across 95 countries and territories, found a marked decline in confidence about short-term growth prospects, alongside heightened concerns around macroeconomic volatility, cyber risk and geopolitical conflict.

At the same time, CEOs continue to focus on longer-term opportunities to reinvent their businesses, pressing ahead with AI investments despite limited immediate returns, PwC said.

“They are prioritising innovation. And many are entering new sectors as they lean into a reconfiguration of industries that's reshaping the global economy. Importantly, CEOs moving fast on these dimensions of reinvention are outperforming their peers,” the survey said.

While nearly a third of respondents (30%) reported increased revenue from AI over the past 12 months and 26% reported cost reductions, a majority of CEOs (56%) said they had seen neither revenue nor cost benefits from AI investments so far.

More than 40% of CEOs said their companies had begun competing in new sectors over the last five years. Among those planning large acquisitions in the next three years, four in ten expect to pursue deals in different sectors or industries.

Confidence in revenue growth over the next 12 months has declined sharply, with only 30% of CEOs saying they were very or extremely confident, down from 38% last year and a peak of 56% in 2022.

On margins, nearly 29% of CEOs said tariffs would reduce their company’s net profit margin over the next year, while 60% anticipated little or no change. Among those expecting pressure, most forecast only a modest impact.

Trust-related concerns remain prominent, with 66% of CEOs saying stakeholder trust issues had arisen in at least one area of business operations during the past year. PwC noted a significant gap in total shareholder returns between public companies facing the highest and lowest levels of trust-related concerns.

The survey also showed that CEOs spend close to half of their time (47%) on issues with time horizons of less than one year, nearly three times the time devoted to activities with horizons of more than five years.