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CEO Confidence Slumps to Five-Year Low in PwC’s 2026 Global Survey

PwC’s latest readout ties the downturn to difficulty turning AI investment into measurable returns.

Overview

  • Only 30% of CEOs expect revenue growth in 2026, down eight points from last year and 26 points from 2022, marking the weakest outlook in five years.
  • Failure to transform with AI ranks as the top risk, cited by 42% of respondents, yet only about one in eight report that AI has delivered both cost and revenue gains.
  • Companies that have broadly integrated AI report nearly four percentage points higher profit margins, underscoring a widening performance gap.
  • Roughly one-third of CEOs see high exposure to significant cyber-related losses, up from 24% the prior year and 21% in 2024.
  • One in five CEOs report high or extreme tariff exposure over the next 12 months, with reported exposure at 35% in Mexico, 28% in China and 22% in the United States, as investment preferences concentrate on the U.S., Germany and India with no Latin American country in the top 10.