PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey: "Reinvention on the edge of tomorrow"
- sciart0
- Jul 10
- 2 min read
Excerpt: "‘The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed,’ said speculative fiction author William Gibson. This sentiment echoes through the results of PwC’s 28th Annual Global CEO Survey, based on responses from 4,701 chief executives representing every region of the world economy.
Some CEOs are moving rapidly to capture the growth and value-creation potential inherent in the defining forces of our era. They’re investing in generative AI, addressing the opportunities and threats posed by climate change, and reinventing their operations and business models to create value in new ways.
Yet many others are moving slowly, constrained by leadership mindsets and processes that lead to inertia.
This latter group has two options: either accelerate their reinvention efforts or bet on hope—hope that, with just a few tweaks, today’s operating and business models will continue to deliver results even as AI and the transition to a low-carbon economy set value in motion across the economy.
Among the key findings:
Expectations for GenAI remain high. One-third of CEOs say GenAI has increased revenue and profitability over the past year, and half expect their investments in the technology to increase profits in the year ahead. Yet trust remains a hurdle to adoption.
Investment in climate actions and sustainability is paying off. One in three CEOs report that climate-friendly investments made over the last five years have resulted in increased revenue. In addition, two-thirds say these investments have either reduced costs or had no significant cost impact.
Sector boundaries are blurring. Almost 40% of CEOs say their companies started to compete in new sectors in the last five years. Consistent with last year’s survey, four in ten CEOs believe their company will no longer be viable in ten years if it continues on its current path.
The pace of reinvention is slow. On average, only 7% of revenue over the last five years has come from distinct new businesses added by organisations in this period. Barriers to reinvention include weak decision-making processes, low levels of resource reallocation from year to year, and a mismatch between the short expected tenure of many CEOs and powerful long-term forces, or megatrends, at work.
Underlining the tension across time horizons, CEOs are optimistic about the near-term outlook even as they worry about their company’s long-term viability:
Almost 60% expected global economic growth to increase over the next 12 months, up from 38% in last year’s survey and only 18% two years ago. By a ratio of more than two to one, CEOs expect to increase rather than decrease (42% vs. 17%) headcount in the year ahead."